Dame Barbara Rae is not a painter of traditional, untouched vistas. Her focus has always been on the human history layered within a landscape. Having walked through her 2018 Northwest Passage exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy—a striking collection of icy, atmospheric works—it makes sense that her attention has now turned to the opposite pole.
Opening this November, Charting South serves as the final major exhibition of the RSA’s bicentenary celebrations. Following her elevation to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire earlier this year, the Falkirk-born artist presents a new body of work rooted in her late-2022 expedition to the Antarctic.
Exhibition at a Glance
- Dates: 21 November 2026 – 24 January 2027
- Venue: RSA Lower Galleries, The Mound, Edinburgh
- Admission: Free entry
Following the 1914 expedition
Rae’s previous northern journey was spurred by a desire to follow her namesake, the Scottish explorer Dr. John Rae. For this southern expedition, the catalyst is Sir Ernest Shackleton and his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–17. The resulting paintings and carborundum prints document the remote ice, but they also examine the human stories attached to it.
The exhibition pulls directly from Rae’s travel sketchbooks and her physical encounters with the harsh environment of South Georgia. Her distinct visual style—characterised by saturated blocks of colour and expressive mark-making—is well suited to the terrain. Alongside her own observations, the show incorporates responses to the stark photography of Frank Hurley, who famously documented Shackleton’s expedition.
‘Barbara Rae’s Charting South is a hugely significant exhibition and a fitting way to bring our bicentenary year to a close. Barbara has an exceptional ability to respond to the places, people and histories she encounters. Charting South continues her long-standing fascination with remote landscapes, taking us from the Arctic to the Antarctic through a body of work that is both visually striking and deeply thoughtful. It feels particularly meaningful to be spending the final months of RSA200 celebrating the work of an artist whose own history is so closely intertwined with the Academy, while looking at the ways she continues to push her practice forward.’ – RSA Head of Programme Flora La Thangue
The legacy of the whaling industry
Beyond Shackleton’s well-known survival story, Rae also looks at the wider, more industrial history of the region. Charting South examines the whaling industry that once operated in these remote waters. She documents the former whaling sites, raising questions about ongoing conservation efforts and the physical remnants left behind by human commerce.
It is a fitting conclusion to the RSA’s 200th year. Rae has been part of the Academy since becoming an Associate in 1980. Her continued drive to travel to such demanding environments, returning with work that is both visually striking and thoughtfully observed, shows an artist who is still actively pushing her practice forward.
Featured Image: Dame Barbara Rae RSA
Details
- Dates: 21 November 2026 – 24 January 2027
- Venue: RSA Lower Galleries, The Mound, Edinburgh
- Admission: Free entry
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