Bruce Hornsby (Photo by Sarah Walor)
"Edward Hopper and the American Hotel,” which opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts last month and runs through Feb. 23, 2020, contains six drawings loaned by musician Bruce Hornsby and his artist/photographer wife, Kathy. We talked with the Hornsbys about the origins of their collection and their decision to loan the works, which, according to VMFA Curator of American Art Leo Mazow, “illuminate the very subject of our exhibition.”
Richmond magazine: What sparked your interest in Hopper’s work?
Bruce Hornsby: Hopper grew up with my grandfather in Nyack, New York. They were friends and, we thought, cousins because there were family references to Auntie Hopper, referring to Edward’s mother. Later, still thinking that Hopper was a relative, I got permission to use “Rooms by the Sea” as the cover for my fourth record, “Harbor Lights.” I did hundreds of interviews talking about Hopper being a relative, only to find out that he was not a relative! My mother found an old newspaper clipping with my grandfather’s scrawl, “What a great article on our dear friend Ed.” Oops.
RM: How did you start collecting work by Hopper?
Kathy Hornsby: In 1991, we were building our house in Williamsburg. We had a lot of bare walls, and our old posters of Bill Bradley and Leon Russell and Hopper’s paintings were not going to work. Bruce and I made a trip to New York City to visit galleries and start looking for art. Nothing was really clicking with us, so we asked a gallery assistant, “If we were interested in finding something by Edward Hopper, where would we go?” We were directed to Hirschl & Adler, took a taxi to the Upper East Side, strolled in looking like complete yokels and asked, “Do you have any paintings by Edward Hopper?” A gracious woman showed us a watercolor and several drawings. The drawings were affordable to us, so we bought two.
BH: Initially, we focused on the drawn studies because they were available and affordable, but also because we were attracted to the preliminary thought process shown in the drawings. Some have margins covered in math — Hopper’s ratios for sizing up a canvas. When you look at the finished oil painting, it’s clear what compositional elements he wanted to accentuate or de-emphasize.
The Hornsbys loaned the VMFA six of Hopper's sketches, including one for "People in the Sun," pictured above. (Image courtesy Virginie Museum of Fine Arts)
RM: What led you to loan works to the Hopper exhibition?
KH: Out of the blue, a friend emailed me, apologizing for mentioning in a VMFA meeting that Bruce and I collected works by Edward Hopper. Mazow and his team were unaware of our collection, and through a rapid and excited exchange of emails and calls over a day, he realized we had studies for two of the oils in the exhibit. He had no idea they were hanging just 60 miles down the road in our home! When I delivered the studies, plus an extra one I thought relevant, Mazow showed me detailed plans for the exhibit. I said, “You know, I’m pretty sure we have studies for these additional paintings as well!” They couldn’t believe it. So I made a second trip to VMFA with three more bubble-wrapped drawings.
