North Carolina Museum of Art

Roger Brown's quirky, self-consciously American style of painting owes less to the traditions of "high art" than to the "low art" of popular culture—comic strips; the flat, hypnotic patterns of wall paper; and the vivid creations of folk and naive artists. Convinced that much of modern art is irrelevant to real life, Brown paints provocative commentaries on current events and topical issues. In American Landscape with Revolutionary Heroes, the artist presents six of the nation’s founding fathers from left to right: Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison and John Marshall.

Solemnly posed within a shallow, stagelike space, the figures are cloaked in shadow. The landscape "backdrop" clearly suggests the "Stars and Stripes." Overall, the mood is somber, even mournful, as if these heroes of yesteryear were making their last curtain call.