Modern Dining Room Chairs
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Laminate, Hardwood, Leather, Textile, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak, Bentwood
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Goatskin, Wood, Lacquer
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Plastic
1920s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
20th Century Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Lacquer
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wrought Iron
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Laminate, Hardwood
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary Moldovan Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Ash, Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Argentine Modern Dining Room Chairs
Sheepskin, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Oak
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Poplar
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery