Doctor de Bellio was constantly providing support to Alfred Sisley, who lived in chronic poverty. Naturally, he also acted as his family doctor and treated the painter’s companion in 1883. He also served as a go-between with friends liable to buy Sisley’s paintings, notably in 1886, 1887, and 1889, while buying a number of works by this Impressionist for his own collection. In 1877, he lent three Sisleys to that year’s Impressionist exhibition and purchased at least five other paintings for the sum of 700 francs in 1886. His daughter, Victorine, inherited three Sisley landscapes. Spring near Paris. Apple Trees in Blossom was the only one she kept. This work acquired a certain prestige. It was displayed at the Musée Marmottan in 1938 as part of an exhibition of highlights from the Victorine Donop de Monchy collection, heralding her bequest to the museum. Like Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, Spring near Paris. Apple Trees in Blossom is one of the founding works of the Musée Marmottan’s Impressionist collection.