Modest

'A woman. On the line in Gallery Two of all places. I never thought I'd see the day. This is progress, my dear.'

It's 1874, and Elizabeth Thompson stuns the artistic establishment with her painting The Roll Call. Five years later, she falls two votes short of becoming the first woman elected to the Royal Academy.

In between, she shoulders the hopes and dreams of female artists across the country, while fighting for her place at a table full of top hats, neckties and mutton chop beards.

A thril...