His attraction to nature and the sea can be traced back to his childhood memories of wandering the rural landscape of the estuary of the River Humber.
His artistic education began with tutoring in Florence, and then with extensive travels to Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic states to West Africa, Spain and Cuba.
He eventually settled in England, moving to Chelsea[3] where he worked and lived with his English second wife, the artist Audrey Margherita Archer née Bussell (1900–1994),[5] whom he married in 1932.
[1] His wife Audrey Haagensen organized after his death several exhibitions of his pictures in Grimsby, Kendal, Southend-on-Sea, Chelmsford, at The Minories, Colchester in 1972, at Little Baddow Hall Arts Centre in 1974[3] and at the Loughton House Gallery in London in 1977.
She also arranged an exhibition of his artwork in Oslo in his old homeland; "For," stated Mrs. Haagensen, "despite his birth in Grimsby, he was of pure Norwegian blood."