Smarthistory – Vertis Hayes, The Lynchers

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Hayes, The Lynchers

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Question 1

The painter Vertis Hayes was born in Atlanta but left the South because of:

A	The commission to create murals at Harlem Hospital
B	A desire to pursue a music career
C	The threat of racial violence
D	The opportunity to teach mural painting

Question 2

There is evidence of an alternate title for this painting, “The Victims”, which according to the speakers could refer to:

A	The victims of crimes committed by the people who have been lynched.
B	The potential for negative impact on the perpetrators of violent acts, like lynching, who may become numb and experience reduced capacity for empathy.
C	Deaths caused by the poverty and desperate conditions of the Great Depression.
D	White American society which is still in need of greater empathy and tolerance today in the face of continued racial violence.

Question 3

According to the speakers and the visual evidence, the range of expressions in the scene include all of the following except:

A	Pride and righteousness
B	Readiness for violence
C	Sadness and regret
D	Indifference and nonchalance
E	Aversion and reflection

Question 4

Which of the following statements is not accurate regarding the history of lynching in the United States:

A	This form of extralegal, racial terrorism is most often triggered by minor infractions or simply hatred, in an attempt to exert white control and create fear in a community.
B	Lynchings are carried out in private for fear of breaking the law.
C	Historically, and especially since the late 19th century, lynching has most significantly targeted Black men.
D	Pictures taken of lynchings, by their perpetrators, were reproduced and distributed on postcards.

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Key points

The subject and title of this painting refers to the all too common practice of lynching (public killing of an individual who has not received any due process) of primarily Black men during the Jim Crow era, including the 1930s when Vertis Hayes produced this work.
The scene focuses on the crowd of observers present at a lynching and mirrors photographs taken at the time, some of which were used to create postcards to promote and memorialize such acts of racial hatred. Hayes depicts a range of reactions among the perpetrators, some of whose expressions and actions reinforce the potential for violence.
For many, the killing of Black people by police is seen as a contemporary form of lynching. This image, therefore, is not only a haunting portrayal of the nation’s past, but has disturbing resonance with what is happening in the United States today.

Go deeper

Vertis Hayes, The Lynchers on Google Arts & Culture

Artist Highlight: Vertis Hayes (Georgia Museum of Art)

Learn about Vertis Hayes and his murals in Harlem Hospital

The Origins of Lynching Culture in the United States (Facing History and Ourselves)

History of Lynching in America (NAACP)

A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday (Dread Scott)

Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (Equal Justice Initiative)

See another work by Vertis Hayes

More to think about

Which person in this painting draws your attention the most? Why?

If you could talk to the artist, what would you want to ask him about this specific figure and about making the painting?

Research project ideas

The composition of this painting, and the choices the artist made about what to include and not include, forces us to confront questions of power and empathy—that of the perpetrators of the lynching and our own. Compare this work with images by two other artists who have engaged the subject of viewing or taking part in a lynching.

Kerry James Marshall, Heirlooms and Accessories, 2002

Elizabeth Catlett, And A Special Fear For My Loved Ones, 1946–47

What compositional choices did each artist make and how do those choices affect your experience of the image and understanding of the history of lynching in the U.S., past and present?

Vertis Hayes, The Lynchers

Test your knowledge with a quiz

Hayes, The Lynchers

Key points

Go deeper

More to think about

Research project ideas

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Seeing America

Art histories