Manhunt

Maker John Steuart Curry (American, 1897 - 1946)

ClassificationsPRINTS

Date1934

Mediumlithograph

Dimensionsimage: 9 3/4 x 13 15/16 in. (24.8 x 35.4 cm.) sheet: 11 5/16 x 16 in. (28.7 x 40.6 cm.)

DescriptionA crowd of men with guns, a dog and a horse

SignedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: John Steuart Curry

InscribedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: John Steuart Curry Inscribed in lower left of recto in graphite: "Manhunt" 1934 Inscribed in lower center of inside mat in graphite: (1897-1946) / John Steuart Curry - Manhunt 1934 Lithograph edition of 300 (?) (only 50 printed) Watermark in lower left of recto: BFK Inscribed in lower left of recto in graphite: 10- [erased] Inscribed in upper right of recto in graphite: [illegible]

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Hannah S. Kully

Status

Not on view

Label TextJohn Steuart Curry designed these images to arouse sympathy, direct attention to the problem of racial violence, and effect social change. He sent the lithograph and painting of The Fugitive and the painting of Manhunt to the exhibition "An Art Commentary on Lynching," sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1935, part of their lobbying for anti-lynching legislation. The Fugitive is a powerful image of an African American in a Christ-like pose fleeing the mob intent on killing him, while Manhunt concentrates on the blood-thirsty mob itself. In both prints the outcome of the man's fate remains unresolved.

Object number2014.30.45