Hendrik Jan Wolter was one of the few Dutch artists to embrace Impressionism. His friendship with Frank HEATH, a fellow student at art school in Antwerp in 1895, drew him to Cornwall. He is known to have visited the Heaths in Polperro in 1911, though that was not his first trip to the fishing port. He returned regularly to Polperro and also St Ives for the next twenty years.

As a student, Wolter also spent some time in Paris, where he was exposed to the work of Georges Seurat, Claude Monet and Paul Signac. These influences are clear in the wonderful paintings he produced of Polperro harbour.

In 1924 he was appointed Professor at the State Academy in Amsterdam, a position he held until 1938. This impacted greatly on his painting output. But he did return to Polperro in 1932, producing an impressive painting of the harbour. His Cornish work is some of the best of his career, and fetches significant sums at auction.