To be eligible for the award, entrants must be painters who graduated at least 10 years ago or have at least 10 years of substantive practice. The selected artist must also have been born, or currently living, in Scotland. The award is for artists working in fine art painting of any medium or subject.

How to apply

• Applications are closed for 2026. 

We are delighted to announce Lyndsey Gilmour is the 2026 recipient of the RSA MacRobert Art Award for Painting. The Award will support Gilmour in developing a new body of work exploring the home as a ‘compression chamber’. Through observing everyday domestic life, she will investigate the relationships between objects, routines and lived experience. Alongside developing new work in the studio, Gilmour will undertake research through visits to home studios and galleries across the UK and Belgium. This award will enable Gilmour to devote time to painting while balancing family life and full-time employment. The year-long period of research and development will allow her to deepen her practice and develop her technical skills.

Sir Alexander MacRobert (1854-1922) and Lady MacRobert (1884-1954) married in 1911 and lived on the Douneside Estate in Aberdeenshire. After the death of her husband and three sons, Lady MacRobert continued to run the estate and immersed herself pursuing her own interests and supporting those of her family. These interests covered a broad range of subjects including supporting military life, farming and agriculture, gardening and horticulture, geology, art, music and her local community.

Prior to her death in 1954, Lady MacRobert established a series of charitable trusts that reflected her keen wish to continue to support those interests after she had gone and particularly to present young people with opportunities to better themselves as well as to support and nurture their belief in the traditions, ideals and spirit.

Find out more about The MacRobert Trust.

Banner image: Steven MacIver, WIP, 2024