Revolutionary Flag c. 1936

This is Edward Grant’s ‘Revolutionary Flag’ made with watercolor on paper. Look at that delicious green. It makes me think about the idea of something natural, like moss or algae, slowly taking over. The colors are subdued, the red and white of the stripes are kind of timid, almost faded, and that green is just everywhere. I wonder if the green is meant to represent the grass growing over revolution. It feels like Grant is showing us a ghost of a flag, a memory or a dream. The way the watercolor seeps into the paper makes it look aged, like it’s been buried or hidden away. There are so many ways you could interpret this. It reminds me a little of Jasper Johns' paintings of the American flag, where the image becomes a surface, a texture, almost like a found object. I love the feeling that things don't have to be fixed. Art invites you to ask questions, not to find answers.