Jeu de boules, Sanary

Hendrik Jan Wolter (15 July 1873 - 29 October 1952), the painter of light and color, was a Dutch luminism painter. In 1895 he was accepted into the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp. After a year he transferred to the Institut Supérieur. He continued working here for three years and was awarded the Willink van Collen award. During that time he got acquainted with the works of Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley , Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and Théo van Rysselberghe and he became friends with the Belgian luminism painter Emile Claus.

In 1899 he moved to Leusden, near Amersfoort and married Popkolina van Hoorn in 1904. Around 1915 they lived in Laren for the first time and in 1924 they moved there again. Here Wolter built a house that he designed himself "Blommenwijck". In the garden he built a workshop (now Oud Blaricummerweg 46). Near the door a gable stone with the inscription "in veilige haven" (meaning "in safe harbor") is visible.

Wolter belonged together with Jan Sluijters, Jan Toorop and Leo Gestel to the important modern artists of that time. Wolter visited Toorop several times in Domburg where he participated in several expositions. His contemporaries described Wolter as a sensitive colorist, a very skilled draftsman and as an artist who went his own way.

Wolter painted en plein air and especially loved to work by the water. You could find him by small rivers, the canals in Amsterdam, the rough coast of Cornwall, Venice, the harbor of Camogli and here the coastal town Sanary-sur-Mer. He always had a special interest in capturing the light, the colors and the reflection on the water.