In March of 1919, students at Nutana Collegiate (called Saskatoon Collegiate Institute until 1923) announced they would establish a memorial for the 29 alumni soldiers who died in the First World War. Principal Alfred J. Pyke instead suggested creating a Memorial Art Gallery that consisted exclusively of paintings by Canadian artists. They purchased one painting by a different artist for each fallen soldier.
Emile Walters' Apple Blossoms was acquired in 1925 and dedicated to Private Jacob Lindal. Jacob attended Saskatoon Collegiate Institute from 1913 to 1915. He enlisted on 29 March 1916 and was killed on 17 October 1916.
Walters was a young artist, just thirty-one when he made contact the Memorial Art Gallery. He asked that the two canvases, Winter - dedicated to Private Skuli Lindal and Apple Blossoms, be dedicated to the Lindal brothers. Walters had met them many years earlier when he lived in Saskatoon and had a friendship with Jacob, keeping in touch with him until he left for war.
