Icon: Kathleen Gilje

The past is never far away from even the most striking developments in the visual arts and culture generally. Artists draw on earlier art as a touchstone for their own technical learning, though more frequently as a visual sounding board for their own ideas, and as a font of inspiration. Kathleen Gilje-a NYC-based painter (b. 1945) who trained in Italy as a conservator and known for her liberal appropriation of the Old Master canon-presents an interesting nexus of these three approaches.

Opening late fall 2025, Icon: Kathleen Gilje Repaints Art History showcase’s the artist’s work and its relationship to the major art historical legacies of Leonardo da Vinci, Francisco Zurbaran, Gustave Courbet, and Man Ray’s appropriation of Ingres, and others.

Artwork Hero Caption: Kathleen Gilje, Lady with an Ermine, Restored after Leonardo da Vinci, 1997, oil on panel, 15 ¾” x 21 7/8 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.

Artwork Captions: Kathleen Gilje, Margaret of Antioch – Patron Saint of Creativity and Childbirth after Zurbaran, 2024. Oil on linen. 76 x 52 ½ inches with frame (text written in frame). Image courtesy of the artist. Kathleen Gilje, Woman with a Parrot, Restored, 2001. Oil on canvas. 51 x 77 inches. Image courtesy of the artist. Kathleen Gilje, Woman with a Parrot, Restored, 2001. X-Ray, 50 x 75 ½ inches. Image courtesy of the artist. Kathleen Gilje, Self-Portrait after Bouguereau’s, “The Assault,” 2012. Oil on linen, 61 ¼ x 41 ½ inches. Image courtesy of the artist.