Ipswich gallery celebrates 100 years of votes for women

The Women 100 exhibition includes work by 60 different women, including war artist Anna Airy's painting of Mrs Monica Burnand

Anna Airy Mrs Monica Burnand 1916 — The Women 100 exhibition includes work by 60 different women, including war artist Anna Airy's painting of Mrs Monica Burnand

One hundred artworks by women have gone on display to mark 100 years since some women in the UK were given the right to vote.

The Women 100 exhibition is being held at Ipswich Art Gallery until April.

Artists include Maggi Hambling, of Aldeburgh Scallop fame, and a collection of London World War Two pastel drawings by Blanche G Vulliamy.

Curator Emma Roodhouse said 1918 was a "significant year" and it was "worthwhile" to mark.

Pastel drawings by Blanche G Vulliamy, showing London during World War One, will be on show as a collection for the first time since 1920

Ipswich Borough Council Pastel drawings by Blanche G Vulliamy — Pastel drawings by Blanche G Vulliamy, showing London during World War One, will be on show as a collection for the first time since 1920

The drawings show streetlights and searchlights, which curator Emma Roodhouse described as a "personal view"

Ipswich Borough Council A pastel drawing by Blanche G Vulliamy — The drawings show streetlights and searchlights, which curator Emma Roodhouse described as a "personal view"

The Representation of the People Act was passed on 6 February 1918, granted women over the age of 30 who occupied a house the right to vote for the first time.

It meant 8.5 million women had their say over who was in Parliament, which was about two in every five women in the UK.

Ms Roodhouse said the Women 100 exhibition gives people the chance to discover artwork by 60 artists from the 1800s to the present day - some which have not previously been displayed by the gallery.

Amy K Browning won the Paris Salon's gold medal for this 1913 painting called Lime Tree Shade

Amy K Browning Amy K Browning Lime Tree Shade — Amy K Browning won the Paris Salon's gold medal for this 1913 painting called Lime Tree Shade

Other highlights include paintings by Rose Mead, an active member of the Society of Women Artists; Anna Airy, the first president of the Ipswich Art Society; and sculptures by Ellen Mary Rope.

Another featured artist, Amy K Browning, was friends with suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and assisted her in the mounting of the Women's Exhibition of 1909 in Knightsbridge, London.

Work by Suffolk contemporary artists Maggi Hambling CBE and Ania Hobson have also been included in the exhibition.

The exhibition includes works up to the present day, including this 2017 painting, entitled Graveyard, by Saxmundham artist Ania Hobson

Ania Hobson Graveyard 2017 — The exhibition includes works up to the present day, including this 2017 painting, entitled Graveyard, by Saxmundham artist Ania Hobson

There is a free event on Saturday from 16:00 to 18:00 GMT with electronic musician Francine Perry playing in the gallery.

The free exhibition at the High Street gallery runs until Friday, 5 April.

Works by Suffolk's Maggi Hambling CBE have also been included in the display, including this painting of artist Edward Wolfe and his cat Blackie

Maggi Hambling Teddy Wolfe and Blackie by Maggi Hambling — Works by Suffolk's Maggi Hambling CBE have also been included in the display, including this painting of artist Edward Wolfe and his cat Blackie

Ipswich gallery celebrates 100 years of votes for women

Remembering suffragist Millicent Fawcett

Hate mail and firebombs: How women won the vote

Anthem written for women's vote centenary

Capturing cormorants in Suffolk

Maggi Hambling and the North Sea