Gertrude Des Clayes

1879-1949

Gertrude Des Clayes was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her older and younger sisters,  Berthe Des Clayes and Alice Des Clayes were also painters. She studied in Bushey, England at the Bushey School of Art under B. Herkomer. She then studied in Paris under Tony Robert-Fleury and Jules Lefebvre at the Académie Julian.

Principally a portrait painter, she lived in London from 1906 to 1912 where she became a member of the National Portrait Society in 1911. She won a medal at the Salon de Paris in 1909. She came to Canada in 1912 and settled in Montreal where she lived and worked for the next twenty-four years. She painted portraits in oils and pastels but she also painted some florals and occasionally birds. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1914 and exhibited her work at the Watson Art Galleries while in Montreal. She returned to England in 1936 and died in London at the age of 70.

Collections:

- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, QC)
- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)

Affiliations:

- National Portrait Society (1911)
- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (1912)