Mary Portelli, right, West Pittston Historical Society president, presented a program at the West Pittston Library featuring West Pittston artists.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
This painting by the late Robert Carlyle Barrett was on display during the program on West Pittston painting artists.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
West Pittston resident Clark Switzer gives West Pittston Historical Society President Mary Portelli a hand in reading the back of a painting, ‘Pittston at Sunset’ by Charles Burritt Zimmerman, at the program at the West Pittston Library.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
‘Pittston at Sunset’ by Charles Burritt Zimmerman was on display during the West Pittston Historical Society program on West Pittston artists.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
WEST PITTSTON — Mary Portelli, West Pittston Historical Society president, held a program on artists Robert Carlyle Barrett and Charles Burritt Zimmerman, who hailed from the borough.
Robert Carlyle Barritt (1895-1979), lived in West Pittston until 1957. He is known for his portraits, landscapes, and industrial landscapes primarily from Pennsylvania and Virginia were he eventually settled and was buried at Lexington, Virginia.
Barritt, who studied under Norman Rockwell, was considered an American Impressionist where his preferred medium as oil on canvas.
Charles Burritt Zimmerman (1900-1994) began art studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and continued his studies at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He attended Grand Central Art School, New York City, where he maintained a studio for several years.
Zimmerman served as a commercial artist for Macy’s Department Store, New York City, for many years.
He had received numerous awards, and was also awarded the Grumbacher Gold Medal Award in 1988 at the Wyoming Valley Art League Fall Exhibit.
Portelli said she would likely have another program featuring other artists from West Pittston in the future.
