As a Royal Academician and President of the Scottish Society of Artists, Barbara Rae is one of Britain's most important contemporary artists. Her work can be found in many international collections, among them the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, the Museum of Art for Women, Washington DC, and Perth Art Gallery and Museum, Australia. This is the first monograph of her work, and thus provides a long overdue appraisal of her career.The book traces the development of Rae's work, from her early days as a student and lecturer in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and looks at the influence that her wide travels have had on her painting. The reader comes to an understanding of the importance of place in Rae's work - in particular, the human traces and patterns of history that are left on a landscape - and at the same time gains an insight into how the structure of a landscape is simply the starting-point for an experimental studio process, involving paint, colour and collage, that borders on abstraction. The catalogue section of the book is divided into topographical chapters, each with a brief personal introduction by Gareth Wardell.The book includes an extensive interview with the artist by Andrew Lambirth, in which Rae reveals details of her early life and influences, and the fascinating secrets of what goes on in her studio, her materials and techniques, and her 'pure pleasure of painting'. The essay by Bill Hare examines the role of landscape in Rae's art, considering her work in the context of Western traditions and twentieth-century art. The contrasting approaches of these authors, alongside the lavish colour illustrations of Barbara Rae's unique work, make this an important and engaging homage to her life.