Her first solo show was in 1967 at the Edinburgh’s New 57 Gallery. In 1980 she was elected as an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and became a full member in 1992. She was elected president of the Society of Scottish Artists in 1983. She was appointed as a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland in 1995. Rae was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Art in 1996. In 1999, she was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. 

Rae’s work is held by institutions including the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, British Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Whitworth Art Gallery. The first monograph on her work was in its third printing as of 2013.