'Déjeuner sur l'herbe' (2021) Oil on canvas 80 x 60 cm
This painting shows Monastery ''t Hoompje' in Sluis (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen). At the bottom left of the painting - under threatening storm weather - a few sisters are sitting in the monastery garden and at the bottom right are the participants of 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' (the lunch on the grass): a free interpretation of the well-known painting by the French painter Edouard Manet.
History 'Het Hoompje' is a former monastery building that was built in 1909 by Marguerite van Loo. She was married to Baron Leon Cox. They called the building "La Pommeraie," probably because of the apple orchard surrounding the house at the time. They only lived here for a short time and sold the property to the French 'Soeurs de la Providence de Rouen', or the Sisters of Providence, who also looked after some disabled children. In 1934 the building was purchased by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Childhood of Maria ter Spermalie. However, the number of children in the home grew very quickly. The children's home ran according to plan until the Second World War. The children and the sisters were then housed in the mother monastery in Bruges, Belgium. In 1944 an emergency town hall and police station were set up in the building and goods were sold at a low price. This "market" was popularly called "Het Hoompje". At the end of 1946 the sisters returned to 't Hoompje and the children also returned. The care for the children grew more and more and that is why several people were employed. Due to the growth of the children's home, it moved to Oedele in Belgium in 1987. The last nuns left at the end of the 1980s, after which the building became vacant.
Monument To prevent the entire complex from being demolished, it has been placed on the national monument list. Around 2000, the municipality sold it to a project developer who wanted to build apartments here, on the condition that the buildings would be restored. The latter did not happen and the owner let it decay as soon as possible, with the ultimate intention of demolition. Large parts of the roof and upper floor have since collapsed.
Ghosts The vacant building is now often visited by 'ghost hunters' and is known among Urban Explorers. There are also several stories about the paranormal activity in this monastery; especially in the chapel it seems to be haunted.
