Kluge was educated at the Technical school in 1897. In 1910 Kluge worked for the fine Porcelain studio Bing & Grondahl. During his time at Bing & Grondahl, Kluge met and befriended the Marine artist Christian Benjamin Olsen. Olsen, who was a famous and successful marine artist at the time, soon realised that the young Kluge had an extraordinary and raw talent for seascapes and ship portraits. Olsen helped and guided the young Kluge and not before long, Kluges works were in high demand. It was especially the Royal Navy and officers who requested Kluges works. His works have a unique and dreamy atmosphere that were very popular especially for retired officers. Kluge worked primarily with seascapes, ship portraits and harbour scenes. But he also worked with portraits and landscapes on rare occasions. Kluge was particularly fascinated with working with different illuminations and in order to capture natures different lights, Kluge was often seen sitting near the harbour during rainstorms, thick mist, snow storms, early mornings or in the middle of the night. Although these effort made his works unique, Kluge also suffered from being confused with a hobo and was on occasions detained by the police or guards who did not recognised or believed he was Harry Kluge the marine artist. Kluge won the prestigious Benny Claudi-Pedersen art award in 1921, and was featured at the Danish national exhibition at the Brooklyn museum in 1927.
Selected Exhibitions
Charlottenborg: 1902-1957.
The Baltic show, Malmo: 1914.
Private one-man exhibitions in 1921, 1937, 1939 and 1941.
Gallery Anton Hansen: 1922.
Brooklyn Museum: 1927.
Øbro Art Gallery 