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Call me tacky, but is there any reason you couldn't spray paint these suckers? Lots of thin coats though? Why wouldn't it work?

I'd say that'd be bad news. With the chairs being flexible, the paint would likely chip at the corners where the tube flexed under the weight of the sitter. Maybe you could take them in to get powdercoated, which may or may not be cheap in your area.

I hate being negative on these types of questions... but you may want to keep shopping. As much as I love the Cesca chair by Breuer, I doubt you're gonna get what you want by taking this on.

If you're set on doing this, I'd get the frame powdercoated and I'd use very light layers of spray paint for the back. If you can't powdercoat the frame, use spray paint made for metal for that too. Either way, you do NOT want to use the same paint for both parts and you don't want to paint them together. Above all, be patient and use a very fine grit sand paper, especially on the caning.

I am sure that "brass" is lacquered, and you'd have to strip it first in order to have a hope of any sort of paint adhering to it, and that is just for starters. Really, this job would be so difficult, my advice is that you should just keep shopping...

Keep shopping - any paint would chip off in no time...

monika1 is correct. The brass is most likely lacquered. I disagree with stripping it. It must be cleaned real well. TSP would be good. The next layer then can be lacquer. The solvent in lacquer will form a secure bond with the old, if the surface is clean. Also, there is a product with a name like Liquid Sandpaper out there that will strip the top layer of lacquer and make it "rougher" increasing the adhesion.

FYI. I had chairs like those many years ago. The frame fell apart after two meals a day for about three or four years. The "caning" held up fairly well up to death.

I paid about $12 a piece for them.