Harold Bengen

Harold Bengen (6 January 1879 - 21 March 1962) was a German artist and art teacher. His earlier works can be seen as part of the movement.

Harold Tronson Bengen was born in Hanover, one of his parents' four children, during the early years of the German empire. His father was a pharmacist specialising in animal medicines. His mother, born ___ Tronson, was his father's second wife. She was an educator, originally from England, who had met his father while visiting Hanover and married him. Till 1914 Harold Bengen used the name "Harold T Bengen", with the "T" standing for Tronson.

Harold Bengen attended the in , where he received instruction in drawing from while still a schoolboy. In 1896 he moved on to the Weimar Arts Academy where he was taught by . During 1898 and 1899 he pursued his studies in Graz, after which he returned home and worked in Hanover as a free-lance artist. During the years directly after 1905, which his when he met his future wife, Emmy, he became particularly prolific.

In 1908 he took a position teaching drawing and decorative art at the in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Two years later, together with and Max Pechstein, he was a co-founder of the New Secession artists' group. In 1920 he participated in the Berlin Secession exhibition. This was also the year in which he was given a professorship by the Berlin . His students over the years included Hans Orlowski, Rudolf Bredow, Hannah Höch and . By now he had embarked on a parallel career as a costume designer, and in the early 1920s he designed the costumes and stage sets for a production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater of The Merchant of Venice. He also involved himself in the design of mosaics and stained glass windows. In 1928 he undertook an extensive tour of South America which gave rise to a succession of water colours and pastel drawings.

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