He graduated from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts in the atelier of Professor Wojciech Weiss in 1938. Sent to Siberia at the beginning of World War II, he escaped with the Anders Army to the Middle East. There he painted, among other things, a portrait of General Sikorski. In January 1944, at the initiative of the Societe des Amis de l'Art, the British Councile and the Allied Army, a painting exhibition of Artists of the United Nations Soldiers was organised in Cairo, in which Hoenigan participated. From 1945 to 1948 the artist lived in Israel, then in Paris for a year, hence French Post-Impressionism significantly influenced his later work.

He arrived in Canada in 1950 and was required to do manual labour on a farm for three years. After his contract ended, he settled in Toronto, dividing his time between paid work and painting. Already his first exhibition, at the Eglinton Gallery in 1955, received positive press coverage. In 1962 and 1963, the painter presented his work in a group exhibition at the Four Seasons Motel. In 1963, at an exhibition at State University, Buffalo/New York, Hoenigan's painting was awarded. A solo exhibition at Tygesen Gallery, in 1964, received positive reviews in the Canadian and Polish press: 'It is marked by an astonishing and attractive inequality. This is due to the contrast between the recent poetic works and the works of the 1940s, sharp and full of character. It is evident in the works that the artist's wartime experiences have been translated into the language of painting, as shown in the works: "The Old House of Safad", "The Holy Family"" ( Globe and Mail). "Two years ago, we turned our attention to Henryk Hoenigan and his 'Polish Landscape', shown in an exhibition of Canadian artists at the Four Seasons Motel. Hoenigan worked physically as a farm labourer for several years. It was not until he had 'paid off the hard labour' that he stood at his easel. The exhibition is a cross-section of the artist's work. There are works going back to his stay in the Middle East - Egypt, Palestine, his stay in Paris and finally his last period. Hoenigan is a reflective painter. He operates mostly with cold colours" ('The Unionist').

In 1965, the artist had a solo exhibition at the ACA Gallery in Buffalo/USA and participated in a group exhibition organised at the Toronto Public Library on the occasion of the Polish Culture Festival. In 1966, in connection with the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Poland, the Millennium Committee organised an exhibition of Polish art in St.Catherine/Ontario, in which Hoenigan's works participated. In the 1970s, the painter was at his creative best, extremely active and participated in many exhibitions. In 1971, at an exhibition at Gallery Lambton, he showed a series of lyrical and nostalgic paintings, landscapes moving towards abstraction with rich colours. The Committee for the Celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1972, organised an exhibition of four artists: Henryk Hoenigan, Kazimierz Glaz, Edward Koniuszy and Mary Schneider. The works were presented in the backstage of the theatre, on the occasion of the premiere of the play 'The Magic Night' by Sławomir Mrożek. The Art Gallery of Cobourg/Ontario (now the Art Gallery of Northumberland) represented the artist and organised two solo exhibitions for him: in 1975 and in 1977. In 1975, the painter was awarded a Government of Ontario Arts Council Grant. He had a solo show at the Lengyel Gallery in New York and a group presentation of Polish artists at the Ontario Science Centre. In an exhibition prepared in 1977 at the Toronto Public Library, '16 Polish-Canadian Artists', Hoenigan showed 'Prelude to Spring' semi-abstract in mixed technique. He also participated in the 1978 exhibition Polonia of Tomorrow - Polonia of Tomorrow, organised by the Toronto NCP.

During martial law, Hoenigan donated his painting to an auction of works by Polish artists to raise money for food and medicine for Poland. He also donated two drawings to charity for the Marie Curie-Skłodowska Club in Toronto. In 1984, the artist participated in the Polish-Canadian Sesquincentennial Art Exhibition at City Hall, a meeting of artists of different generations. The oil 'Ballet Dancers', in the private collection of Andrzej and Danuta Pawlowski, is evidence of the compositional and colour virtuosity of this post-impressionist, whose creative pursuits did not leave him until the end of his life.

Hoenigan oscillated between the figurative, the fragmentary, the sketchy and the semi-abstract, believing that in a painting it is not the subject that is most important, but how it will be translated into colours and shapes. Often the subject of his works was the woman and the relationship between man and woman. He also reached for landscape, in which he demonstrated his virtuosity as a colourist. In his own way, the artist reworked the legacy of Post-Impressionism in subject matter and colour, playing with stain and the relationship of colours in a painting. There is an oil 'Georgian Bay' in the AGN Permanent Collection - Art Gallery of Northumberland/Ontario. Other works by the painter are in private and public collections in Canada, USA, Mexico, Japan, UK, Israel.

Work in catalogue
Henry Hoenigan, 'At the Exhibition', 1989, drawing with watercolour, with dedication ['To Dr A. Pawlowski - an admirer of art, Henry']. The work is in the collection of Danuta and Andrzej Pawłowski, donated to the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto. The sketchiness is a valence of the painting, and at the same time it is an expressive painting - the sketchiness acts as a valence. On a brown background, with a few lines, the painter has depicted an empty room in the museum, two walls, on each of which hangs a painting, in front of one painting we see the silhouette of a man, in front of the other stands a woman. Two solitary figures, close or alien to each other. The contours of the painting are irregularly painted white, which creates an aura capturing these two into a separate dimension.