Berthe Des Clayes’ Blossom Time is a luminous spring landscape centred on a modest cottage nestled among blossoming orchard trees. The composition is dominated by a tall tree with radiant yellow-green foliage that rises above the house, its airy branches spreading across a pale blue sky.

Berthe Des Clayes was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1877. She began her formal art education at the Bushey School of Art in London, studying under Hubert von Herkomer, before continuing her training at the Académie Julian in Paris with notable instructors Tony Robert-Fleury and Jules Lefebvre.

Des Clayes lived and worked across Europe and Canada, including extended periods in Montreal, Quebec (1912–1919, 1931–1951), and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1922). She was a prominent member of the Montreal art community and made history as the first female vice-president of the Art Association of Montreal in 1920.

An impressionistic painter, Des Clayes excelled in oil, watercolour, pastel, and chalk, producing landscapes, portraits, and harbour scenes that reflect both her European training and her deep appreciation of the Canadian landscape. Blossom Time, Eastern Townships demonstrates her characteristic sensitivity to light, colour, and seasonal atmosphere, capturing the gentle bloom and quiet charm of rural Quebec in the 1930s.

Des Clayes exhibited widely throughout her career, including at the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1912–1947) and the Canadian National Exhibition, and her work is held in major public collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. She was twice awarded the Jessie Dow Prize and illustrated two books celebrating Canadian locales: Here and There in Montreal and the Island of Montreal and Acadia (Nova Scotia), published by the Dominion Atlantic Railway.

After extensive travel in Europe following World War I, she returned to Montreal in 1931, establishing a studio in Beaver Hall Square, a hub of artistic activity. Des Clayes ultimately returned to England in 1967, passing away in Devon in 1968. She left a lasting legacy as a bridge between European and Canadian artistic traditions, with a body of work that continues to be celebrated for its lyrical beauty and cultural significance.