Biography of Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen Poul Henningsen was born on September 9, 1894, in Ordrup, Denmark. The illegitimate son of Agnes Henningsen and the writer Carl Ewald, he had three older half-siblings, his mother's children with her ex-husband Mads Henningsen. Agnes Henningsen was a single mother and initially worked as a hairdresser before increasingly dedicating herself to writing about love and sexuality, and also living a free-spirited life. Poul Henningsen grew up freely amidst his mother's changing acquaintances in Denmark's intellectual scene at the beginning of the 20th century.

Training and first designs

At the age of 18, Poul Henningsen enrolled at the Frederiksberg Technical School in 1911, leaving in 1914 to study for three years at the Technical College in Copenhagen. Henningsen also left this program without graduating in 1917 and worked as a painter and inventor in his own design studio, which he founded in 1919 – undeterred by his lack of a university degree. Here, Poul Henningsen was already experimenting with artificial light, its scattering, reflection, and effects. In the same year, Henningsen married Else Strøyberg, who remained his wife until 1942.

Exhibition and award

As part of the Paris exhibition “Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs”, which opened on April 28, 1925 and ran until October, Henningsen's PH lamp, a precursor to his later lighting designs, was awarded a gold medal. Arne Jacobsen Henningsen makes his first appearance at this exhibition. For the production of his first PH lamp, he collaborated with the Danish company Louis Poulsen. His lamp design was installed in public spaces just one year after receiving an award from the Copenhagen Forum.

Escape and freedom

In the following years, an entire PH lighting family was created, consisting of ceiling, table and wall light, Louis Poulsen handles worldwide distribution for these products and has also manufactured them since 1941. For Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens amusement park, Henningsen designed lighting that could be dimmed, making it invisible to aircraft. This allowed the park to remain open until midnight. During the occupation in World War II, Poul Henningsen received death threats and fled to Sweden under cover of darkness by boat. He lived temporarily in Stockholm, like many Danish artists.

The Inger era

Inger Andersen had been working as Poul Henningsen's secretary since the late 1930s. They complemented each other perfectly, and Andersen and Henningsen finally married in 1943. Inger took her husband's surname and brought two daughters into the marriage. One of them, Tove, became the wife of the future designer in 1950. Verner Panton. Inger is the rock at Henningsen's side. She supports his work and shields him when necessary, especially when anonymous callers try to threaten him. The 1950s saw the creation of some of Poul Henningsen's most important lighting designs, all of which were produced by Louis Poulsen.

International acceptance

The designer's initials give the PH lighting collection by Louis Poulsen its name. The family of lights, consisting of PH Artichoke (or PH Cone), PH Snowball, PH Charlottenborg, and a range of wall, table, and ceiling lamps, all begin with the initials followed by numbers. The acceptance of Poul Henningsen's artistic work in the design world is demonstrated by the fact that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used the PH lamp in his private residence, Vila Tugendhat, in Brno, Czech Republic.

Equality and the non-profit idea

In addition to his achievements in lighting design, Poul Henningsen was socially engaged. He offered social criticism, denounced injustices, and, like his mother, vehemently advocated for women's equality. Just four years after his mother Agnes, Poul Henningsen died at the age of 72 on January 31, 1967, in Hillerød, Denmark, north of Copenhagen. His wife Inger remained by his side until his death, having already taken on much of his responsibilities in the years prior when Parkinson's disease left him paralyzed. Beyond his death, Inger and Louis Poulsen have kept the memory of Poul Henningsen's life and work alive through a foundation they established in the year of his death, promoting the charitable causes for which he fought.

Multitalented Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen worked as a cabaret artist, Designer, primarily a lighting designer, writer, critic, architect without a completed degree, but above all Poul Henningsen was one of the most dazzling public figures in Denmark in the 20th century.