Later that fall we met again in the Normandy countryside. Gilbert, as ever, painting fervidly the glorious and changing effects of autumn and the swift running stream of the Seine.

Due to later circumstances, we temporarily lost sight of each other, I went back to Paris and Gilbert returned to his homeland.

In the east, Gilbert exhibited in the important National Art Shows, his work bringing him instant success and recognition. The Hallgarten, Ranger and J. Francis Murphy memorial prizes given for the most distinguished landscapes of the year were his awards. Elected to the membership in that most august society of painters, the National Academy of Design, followed soon after.

Gilbert, originally a native of Illinois, was educated at Northwestern University. At completion of his courses there he entered the Academy at Annapolis and later served in the Navy as an Ensign during World War One. At the end of hostilities, he received his discharge from the Navy and then left for a long awaited sojourn in France where he decided to study painting as a future career.

California ultimately was destined to become his abode and permanent home. At Monterey late in ’39 (by a fortunate coincidence) we found ourselves together. As ever, Gilbert had been painting fruitfully and prodigiously. Here was his Promised Land and the subject matter he loved and understood. With taste and instinctive feeling, plus a complete mastery of his craft, he had each day discovered new and enchanting subject motif that stimulated his ever ready imagination – noble hills, majestic oaks, giant rocks, beating surf and cloud forms of surpassing beauty – all were subjects that flowed naturally from his subtle brush on to the willing and waiting canvas.

Gilbert’s paintings of California will remain a monument to his art and to the lovely land he cherishes. To know his work is to know the man himself – modest, generous and wholly understanding".