Poul Henningsen began to experiment with lighting design in 1919, and gained international attention when he was awarded a gold medal for his prototype of the PH lamp at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1925. The table lamp had three nested moulded opalescent glass shades with mathematically determined curvatures that reflected the maximum amount of light which at no point dazzled the user. A set of PH lamps, including wall mounted, hanging and standing versions, manufactured by Deutsche PH-Lampengesellschaft MBH, were published in the Frankfurt Register in 1930. This supplement to Das Neue Frankfurt, advertised the ‘PH three shade system’ as an example of ‘pure “technical light” design’ which, due to its even distribution of light meant that the lights were suitable for all purposes. A seven reflector hanging light designed to take a 100 watt bulb as also featured.

PH lamps were installed at the Bauhaus’ new premises in Dessau and by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who used them to light several rooms in his Tugendhat house in Brno (1928-30). Henningsen went on to develop more than forty types of the PH light, all with possible variations, numerous of which have remained in continuous production.

Henningsen trained both as a mechanical engineer and architect in Copenhagen, though he did not qualify formally in either profession. A supporter of Cubism and Expressionism in his native Denmark, he worked as both as an art critic and film maker, and in 1926 founded the journal Kritisk Revy (Critical Review). Running for two years, this publication drew together avant-garde thinkers and practitioners across Scandinavia, putting them in touch with the latest developments in Modernism in the rest of Europe.