Celebrated women have presented and developed their artwork at the National Gallery across its history, through residency programmes, commissions and temporary exhibitions. From Bridget Riley, the first woman to take up artist trustee at the Gallery and curate an Artist Eye exhibition in 1989, to Paula Rego who was the first Associate Artist from 1990–91 and produced 'Crivelli’s Garden', commissioned for the Sainsbury Wing Dining Room. Since the 1980s, the National Gallery has invited artists to take up residency within the museum to develop their work in response to its world-renowned collections. Women have taken up the role of Artist in Residence and Associate Artist since these schemes have been established. In 2020, Mumbai-based Nalini Malani took on the role of the inaugural Contemporary Fellowship artist, producing a new immersive video installation titled 'My Reality is Different' which responded to the collection’s paintings. Find out more about these remarkable artists and more below.
