This riveting exhibition presents a compelling alternative to the established history of British art by focusing entirely on the often neglected work produced by many extraordinary women artists working in Britain between 1520 and 1920. For example, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, was portrayed by both Reynolds and Gainsborough, however in 1782, it was Maria Cosway’s inventive portrait of Georgiana flying through the air that was a hit.

It follows the journeys of these women artists to becoming professional artists over a four-hundred- year period, shedding light on how they championed access for women to art training and membership of the academy. Defying society’s expectations, they established commercial careers, overcoming many obstacles to establish what it meant to be a woman in the art world. Often dismissed as amateurs they refused to accept what were considered appropriate genres for female artists and boldly painted subjects usually reserved for male artists: history pieces, battle scenes and the nude.  From Tudor times to the First World War, artists such as Mary Beale, Angelica Kauffman, Elizabeth Butler, Laura Knight and Gwen John paved a new artistic path for generations of women.