Pioneering Women at the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery collection contains only a handful of examples of work by female artists working before the late nineteenth century. Until the end of the Victorian period, most of the female sitters are Queens or members of the aristocracy. There were, however, women filled with enough pioneering spirit and determination to succeed within their field despite the restrictions placed upon them by the society within which they lived. As we celebrate 100 years of votes for women, come and explore the lives of other pioneers including artists Mary Beale and Dame Laura Knight, writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley and women in the world of science and medicine including Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Dorothy Hodgkin.