Light at Jacobshavn was inspired by visits to Ilulissat, an Inuit village in Greenland, formerly known as Jacobshavn. Journeying there on a Russian scientific ship, Rae went around the Northwest Passage. The artist remarks: ‘The Jacobshavn Glacier flows to the sea at Ilulissat, a world heritage site. It is the fastest moving glacier in the world. On my first visit to the village the sea was blocked by ice, but on the second, an absence of ice floes allowed me to take an inflatable craft to the glacier. That day the clouds were as glutinous as frog spawn. Suddenly, an opening appeared in the low cloud allowing a blast of sunlight to reach down to the sea.’  Rae made sketches and studies in her ship’s cabin, creating the painting in her studio in 2016. It was included in her acclaimed exhibition Barbara Rae – The Northwest Passage, at the Royal Scottish Academy in 2018.