In the 1800s, female artists gained little recognition. By the middle of the century the situation became even worse, with new legislation banning women’s access to grants and art institutions. Nevertheless, a few portraitists and history painters emerged—women who defied the odds. The Nationalgalerie surveys the pre-1919 work of female artists, among them Caroline Bardua, Elisabeth Ney, and Sabine Lepsius. —E.C.