Ronald Rae

Ronald Rae is a sculptor and graphic artist born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1946. His large-scale granite sculptures are entirely hand-carved, and over the course of 58 years, he has carved 58 monoliths, many of which are in public and private collections throughout the UK, with one placed in the USA. Rae's sculpture exhibitions include Regent's Park, London (1999–2002), the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2002–04), and Holyrood Park, Edinburgh (2006–08). Rae is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors. In addition to his work in sculpting, Rae has created a vast body of graphic fine art, small sculptures, and 'found objects'. Exhibitions of his work have been held at the Maclaurin Gallery, the Ruiz Gallery in Chicago, Rozelle House, Cyril Gerber Fine Art, The Compass Gallery, Netherbow Gallery, 369 Gallery and the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield. One of Rae's inscribed books, Hans Christian Andersen's 'Sagor', is in the permanent collection of the National Galleries Scotland. Rozelle House, The MacLaurin Gallery and Edinburgh City Art Centre also hold examples of his work. Although a controversial figure at times for contesting with the art establishment over his Lion of Scotland, and having avoided formal education and any contact with the Royal Academies, Rae has attracted considerable praise for his expressionist and mythological works, with accolades from Cyril Gerber, David Alston and Stewart Conn. An artist monograph, 'Ronald Rae - An Inner Life', was published by Unicorn Publishing Group in November 2023. A major joint retrospective of Rae's work, together with that of his artist friend Gordon Cockburn, opened at Rozelle House in Ayr on 17 November 2023 and toured on to Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries, then to the Baird Institute in Cumnock. A catalogue will was published for the exhibition.