Barbara Rae, RA, RSA, was born in 1943 in Falkirk, Scotland. She is a painter and printmaker recognised internationally as a master colourist. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1961 to 1965 and taught at Glasgow School of Art between 1975 and 1996. She lectured in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking at Aberdeen College of Education from 1972 to 1974 and lectured in drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art from 1975 to 1996. She has worked with Glasgow Print Studio since 1985, and has since then published several print editions with the Studio.
Her works use intense colour to evoke dramatic landscapes while retaining an abstract sensibility. She employs a varied use of bold composition, strong contrast and richly textured painted and collaged surfaces to evoke a distinctive, memorable atmosphere. The majority of her print editions published by Glasgow Print Studio use an intaglio technique called carborundum. Essentially this involves making marks using a mixture of glue and powder, allowing for loose, painterly marks and the realisation of rich colour.
Rae’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and has been included in many private collections in Britain, Europe and the USA, as well as in many public and corporate collections. Rae was elected President of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1983. She was made a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1992 (ARSA 1980) and a Royal Academician in 1996. She has been a Member of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland since 1995 and was a Member of the Board of the British School at Rome in 1998. In 1999 she was awarded a CBE and received an Honorary Doctorate from Napier University, Edinburgh.
