Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920 review – A frustrating look at neglected female painters

This scholarly exhibition on British women artists written out of history feels a shade late to the feast. The vogue for unearthing neglected artists from outside the white male Western mainstream peaked a good three years ago in the wake of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter moments. Yet what it lacks in timeliness it makes up for in quantity. While a handful of once stellar painters such as Mary Beale and Angelica Kauffman have been much talked about in recent years – the latter is currently enjoying a major exhibition at the Royal Academy – this show brings whole legions of near totally unknown women painters, sculptors, printmakers and photographers marching out of the shadows.

These weren’t talented amateurs daubing away in stately homes, but determined professionals who