Modern Side 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Plastic
20th Century American Modern Side Chairs
Wood
1990s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s German Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
2010s South African Modern Side Chairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
1980s Finnish Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s Finnish Modern Side Chairs
Birch, Fabric
20th Century American Modern Side Chairs
Wood, Teak
Late 20th Century Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Chrome
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Wood
1990s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Side Chairs
Faux Leather, Wood
1940s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Enamel
2010s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Stainless Steel
20th Century Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Metal
20th Century American Modern Side Chairs
Metal, Chrome
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Mahogany, Muslin
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Walnut, Foam
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
20th Century American Modern Side Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Side Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Oak, Plywood
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s French Modern Side Chairs
Oak, Leather, Linen
1980s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1990s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Steel
19th Century British Antique Modern Side Chairs
Oak
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Muslin, Wood
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Brass
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1990s Indian Modern Side Chairs
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Textile, Oak
















