In 1973, she returned to New York and worked in the conservation studio of Marco Grassi,[1] where she restored Old Master paintings[2] for private and museum clients, including Stanley Moss, E.V.
[5] The painting formed from Raphael's La donna velata (1516) is one of three portraits of his lifelong Roman mistress Margarita Luti.
[6] Contrary to Raphael's painting which captivates its well-balanced composition, through the opulent white and gold gown, and sheer veil framing the woman's face, Gilje's version is staggeringly different by adding a black eye to the woman's gentle face as a bold representation of the timelessness of gender, power, and violence against women.
[5][7] Gilje explains with La Donna Velata, Restored she was moved by a story from her daughter telling her how a classmate was killed by her father and then later a book which showed a picture of the victim.
Gilje created a number of portraits in which her subjects were placed in the context of an historic painting of their choice; these were displayed in her exhibition Curators and Connoisseur at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, New York, in 2006.
For example, art historian Linda Nochlin chose Édouard Manet's 1882 Bar at the Folies Bergère for Gilje's Linda Nochlin at the Bar at the Folies Bergere, 2006, and art historian Robert Rosenblum chose Ingres’ 1823/26 Comte de Pastoret for his Gilje portrait of 2005.