Two Painters in Paris

Honeymoon pictures with painting references? Lennart Anderson and Mimi Weisbord in Paris.

Two Houses. Two Painters. Two Parents. is a newsletter of stories about art, feminism, grief, and time excavated from the Soho loft where I grew up. Posts are free and illustrated with the work of my long-divorced parents, the painters Mimi Weisbord and Lennart Anderson. Sign up here:

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I’m having one of those “I love Substack” moments. A newsletter arrived in my inbox today that showed me something lovely about a photo I recently found of my mother, taken by my father in Paris in 1958.

What a rich gift this platform is for me! Not only am I making writing friends and meeting people who knew or knew of my father (Lennart Anderson), I’m also gaining insights into my parents' minds.

Thank you, Sarah McCraw Crow, for teaching me that the lesser-known Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte loved to paint his friends leaning off Paris balconies. She illustrates her post with this image she took at the Getty Museum, where there is currently an exhibit of Caillebotte’s work.

According to her post, Gustave Caillebotte frequently painted Richard Gallo, pictured here.

I’ve not studied art or art history (outside of osmosis), and honestly, mostly what I learn only “sticks” when it sticks to my parents. I’d not heard of Caillebotte, but I may remember him now. Consider this painting with this photo:

With her shoulders hunched, honestly, it’s not a very attractive snapshot of Mimi (my mother). When I found it, I wasn’t sure why my father took it.

Now I’m willing to bet he had Caillebotte in mind.

This is the Mimi portrait I’m most familiar with from their Paris balcony honeymoon series. They enlarged it and shared it with family.

While we’re at it, here’s the amazing photo Mimi took of Lennart with Parisian men on a bridge over the Seine.

(Classic Lennart!)

Does it reference a painting?

I have no idea.

Please leave a comment if you know something I should.

I might learn something that I’ll actually remember.