The artwork, a mixed media piece created in 1960 while Wilson was a student at what was then San Fernando Valley State College and is now California State University, Northridge, is currently hanging in the lobby of the administrative offices of CSUN's Oviatt Library. It was a gift from Wilson's widow, Marilyn.

Wilson said she decided to give the painting to the university after coming across an interview her late husband gave to the campus newspaper in 1960, which described the painting, an abstract in what was then the relatively new technique of collage.

Marilyn Wilson said she really hadn't had time after her husband's death in 1996 to go through his papers until recently.

"I was looking for some information about his time in California and came across this folded piece of paper," she said. "I read the article and the painting was hanging right in front of me. And when I read the part where he hoped that one day one of his paintings would be in the library, I knew what I had to do.

"As far as I am concerned, that painting is where it belongs. It's home. I was only borrowing it for a few years," she said.

Susan Curzon, dean of the University Library, said university officials were surprised and delighted with Marilyn Wilson's gift.

"We're very glad to be able to fulfill his lifelong wish," Curzon said. "The painting makes a graceful addition to the library, and it's a pleasure to look at. Everyone here is enjoying it."

"California Baroque" is an 36"x48" canvas of muted yellows, golds, browns and greens interspersed with burlap. The words "And seek till time and time is doneŠthe silver apples of the moonŠthe golden apples of the sun," from a poem by William Butler Yeats, are believed to have been added by the artist in the late 1960s. The painting as been valued at $9,200.

Robert Curtis Wilson was an artist, writer and educator. He was born in Sullivan, Ind., in 1926. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon his return, he set up a studio in Granada Hills and attended the San Fernando Valley State College, a satellite campus of what was the Los Angeles State College. Wilson earned both a B.A. and M.A. from the college.

While at San Fernando Valley State, Wilson taught art at Northridge Junior High School and Pierce College. He also won several art competitions. A teaching job at State University College at Buffalo eventually took him east.

Wilson was best known as a landscape painter. He exhibited in many group and one-man shows. Many of his paintings are held in private and public collections around the country. He is listed in The International Bibliographic Files of Venice, Italy, and Who's Who in Arts and Antiques.

As a writer, he contributed to numerous magazines and served as science editor for Mankind Magazine briefly. His books include An Alphabet of Visual Experience, The Artist's Studio Book of Materials, and The Role of the Crafts in Education. He also wrote several historical fiction and murder mystery novels as well as writing and illustrating 12 children's books, which were unpublished at the time of his death.

Wilson also maintained an extensive stamp collection and was an avid collector of primitive artifacts from around the world. He collected and restored a great number of 19th century American landscape paintings.