He graduated in 1877 and won several awards and distinctions, including the Academy's Annual Medal in 1887 and 1890, the Ancher Prize in 1889, and in 1892 a travel scholarship of DKK 100.

Henningsen became part of the group Bogstaveligheden, a forum for the Realists' humanitarian ideals about creating a better society through illumination and debate.

[1] In his paintings from the 1880s and 1890s, Henningsen was preoccupied with the rights and living conditions of groups such as the unemployed, women, workers, children and the elderly.

[3] Henningsen also worked as an illustrator, both for the weekly magazine Ude og Hjemme and books such as Pietro Krohns Peters Jul (1914).

The first prize, which was rewarded with a sum of DKK 10,000, was taken by Jens Ferdinand Willumsen, but it was ultimately Henningsen's entry, known as The Thirsty Man, which was put into production by the brewery.