Gertrude Des Clayes

1879-1949 Gertrude des Clayes, born in Scotland. Sister of Alice and Berthe Des Clayes. Studied at the Herkomer School at Bushey and at the Academie Julian, Paris. She Returned to England in 1920 and died in London in 1949.The middle Des Clayes sister was primarily a portrait painter, although she also painted florals and birds. Like her sister, Berthe, she lived in London from 1906-1912. While in England, she became a member of the National Portrait Society (1911). Gertrude moved to Montreal in 1912 and was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy two years later. Other distinctions include the reproduction of one of her portraits in Newton MacTavish's "The Fine Arts in Canada" (1925) and a medal from the Paris Salon in 1909. She returned to England in 1936. Her work "Young Canadian Girl" (c.1920) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada and she is also represented in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.