Erik Henningsen deftly captured the underlying spirit of social scenes in Denmark with masterly brushwork and an acute fascination for the human condition. With little embellishment or romantic sentiment, his observations are a window into the soul - more akin to documentary photography than traditional genre painting.

Upon absorbing his work, you become an eyewitness to a tangled story as it unfolds in your mind. The characters are familiar, yet it’s not a play or drama - simply the complexities of life in technicolour. It’s a tale of societal inequality interwoven with lavish indulgence and tepid awkwardness.

Henningsen studied everything - yet left it all to the imagination.

1855

Born in Copenhagen to Frants Ludvig Henningsen (1820–1869), a grocer, and Hilda Charlotte Christine née Schou (1824–1880).

As a young man, he was apprenticed to a decorative painter and also had private drawing lessons.

1873

Began studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen.

1877

Sought work as an illustrator while continuing his development as a painter.

1881

Morning in the Courtyard of the Adressecontoir, Copenhagen

1886

The Murder of a Child

1887

Married Mary Henriette de Jonquiéres (b. 1858).

1888

Guard parade

1889 & 1890

Won the Royal Academy’s Eckersberg Medal.

1891

The Dance Pavilion

1892

Sat Out

1893

Became a Member of the Academy Council.

1895

An Injured Worker

1898

A Horse Trade

1899

An agitator

Conscripts of the Royal Danish Navy, Mending their Summer Uniforms

c. 1900

Harvest Scene With Farmer & Scythe. From our collection.

1902

Firefighter Saves an Old Lady 

1903

Askov Folk High School

Landscape with a Man and a Wife on a Dirt Road

1907

At Copenhagen

1919

Artists

c. 1925

1926

The City's Musicians

1930

Died. Copenhagen.