Ronald Rae is a Scottish

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

born in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

, Scotland, in 1946. His works are entirely hand-carved in

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. He has over fifty outdoor granite sculptures in public and private collections throughout the UK. His largest work to date is the 20 tonne '' Lion of Scotland''. Solo exhibitions include

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, London (1999–2002) and

Holyrood Park Holyrood Park (also called the Queen's Park or King's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, loc ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. (2006–2007)

Collections

Public works include ''Widow Woman'', purchased for the permanent collection of the Jerwood Foundation. In April 2009, Rae's eight-tonne sculpture ''Fish'' was installed on the waterfront at

Cramond Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...

after a successful fundraising campaign by the Cramond Community. The sculpture was carved from a 460 million-year-old granite stone in the grounds of Cramond Kirk over a period of eight months. In February 2008, the sculpture ''Fallen Christ'' was sited outside the MacLeod Centre on the island of

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

and dedicated to the memory of Jim Hughes a member of the Iona Community. Other granite sculptures in public sites include ''O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast'' at

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Railway Station, five sculptures depicting ''The Tragic Sacrifice of Christ'' in Rozelle Park,

Alloway Alloway ( gd, Allmhaigh, ) is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland, located on the River Doon. It is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns and the setting for his poem "Tam o' Shanter". Tobias Bachope, the mason responsible for the cons ...

and ''Abraham'' at the

Royal Edinburgh Hospital The Royal Edinburgh Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Morningside Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The "foundational myth" has it that the hospital was founded by Dr Andrew Duncan, the elder, Andrew Duncan ...

, ''Return of the Prodigal'' at Aviva, Perth, ''Famine'' and ''Mark of the Nail'' at St John's Church, Edinburgh, ''The Good Samaritan'' at Riverside Park, Glenrothes, ''Sheep'' at Almond Valley Heritage Centre, Livingston, ''Sacred Cow'' at Victoria Quays, Sheffield, ''Insect and Celtic Cross'' at Erdington Railway Station, Birmingham, ''Elephant and Rhino'' at Dormston Art Centre, Dudley, ''Hiroshima Departed'' at the Japanese Peace Park, Willen Lake, Milton Keynes, ''War Veteran'' and ''Animals in War Memorial'' on loan to Bletchley Park, ''The Cramond Fish'' at Cramond Waterfront, Edinburgh, ''Baby Boar ''at Aberdeen Airport. ''Heavy Horse and Foal ''at the Crinan Canal'' ''on temporary loan to Scottish Canals. ''Horse'' and ''Highland Cow ''at Isle of Eriska Hotel, Argyll.

Portrait of Rae

Ronald Rae agreed to sit for sculptor

Jon Edgar Jon Edgar is a British sculptor of the Frink School. Improvisation is an important part of his reductive working process and developed from the additive working process of Alan Thornhill. Final works are often autobiographical, perhaps referenc ...

in 2011 as part of a new series of sculpture-related heads. This was exhibited at

Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbar ...

in 2013 as part of the Sculpture Series Heads Jon Edgar - Sculpture Series Heads: Terracotta Portraits of Contributors to British Sculpture (2013) Scott, M., Hall, P., and Pheby, H. exhibition.

References

External links

Illustrated web archive of works by Ronald RaePictures of granite stone sculptures by Ronnie Rae in Rozelle Park, Alloway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Ronald 1946 births British sculptors British male sculptors Living people