Poul Henningsen
Illuminating Mid-Century Modernism

Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) is most famous for his innovative lighting designs. He was obsessed with light and believed that the quality of light could significantly impact a space's atmosphere and people's well-being.

Poul Henningsen’s lamp designs are characterised by their innovative distribution of light. It was Henningsen’s continuous goal to achieve illumination that sheds warm, soft light without a harsh glare coming directly from the bulb. Henningsen developed his ’system of lamp shades that completely surround the source of light so that no radiating rays can meet the eye directly.

"He has a very poetic style, delicate and gentile, yet with a practical side, meaning the function of protecting the eye from the naked light bulb is perfectly executed." —Andrew Duncanson

Henningsen was born on September 9, 1894, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was raised in a progressive family and pursued architecture studies in both Frederiksberg and Copenhagen. He began his design career with an interest in conventional functionalist architecture, but his focus gradually shifted towards lighting design.

At the start of the Second World War, he held the position of chief architect for Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens. However, Germany’s growing occupation of Europe forced Henningsen to leave Denmark and take up residence in one of the Danish artists’ communities in Sweden.

Henningsen was obsessed with light and believed that the quality of light could significantly impact a space's atmosphere and people's well-being. He developed a lighting system known as the PH System, which involved using layered shades to diffuse and direct light, minimising glare and creating soft, ambient illumination.

Henningsen’s famous lamps with a three-shade system became known as PH-lamps and were manufactured by Louis Poulsen, with whom Henningsen built a lifelong working relationship after presenting their famous Paris Lamp at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris (and winning the prize). These lamps feature multiple concentric shades that effectively filter light, providing both functional and aesthetic benefits. The shades were designed to hide the light source and prevent glare while diffusing a warm, even illumination.

Some of his notable PH lamp designs include the PH5, PH Artichoke, and PH Snowball. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen, among others.

This extraordinary monumental chandelier with seven three-shade systems by Poul Henningsen was custom designed for the Danish company Neye in 1930 – it is unique and, thus, an intriguing piece of Scandinavian design history.

The piece was skillfully realised by the renowned Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen. The impressive dimension of the chandelier is achieved through six brass arms with the PH-shade set size 4/3 and one central brass arm carrying the slightly larger PH-shade set size 5/4.

All parts are original; prior to its acquisition by Modernity, the chandelier had hung safely in Neye’s boardroom in Copenhagen since its creation. The chandelier is marked ‘patented’ and ‘P.h.-3/100’