Born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire to Norwegian parents. His father was a Norwegian ship owner and regularly allowed Haagensen to accompany him on trips between Grimsby and Norway. Haagensen’s affinity with nature and the sea can be traced back to these boyhood excursions. His artistic training in Florence and was further enhanced by extensive travelling from Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic to West Africa, Spain and Cuba. Upon his return to England he settled Chelsea where he worked and lived with his wife and child during the twenties and thirties. At this time he predominantly worked in oils, watercolours and charcoals, as well as beginning to produce and explore the medium of etching. Although Haagensen came to etching relatively late in life (he was forty-seven) his devotion to the medium was rewarded with exhibitions in New York, Boston and London. For the last seven years of his life Haagensen lived in the Essex village of Bradwell-Juxta-Mane.
