“That’s what I like about painting: It gives you freedom,” mused the famed artist Bob Ross in a 1994 episode of his tutorial tv present The Pleasure of Portray. “You can create any illusion that you want.” Utilizing his signature wet-on-wet oil approach, Ross gently dabbed a combination of vibrant yellow and inexperienced paint onto an upright canvas, creating grassy foothills that fused right into a panorama of lush bushes, gauzy mountains, a jewel-toned pond, and a red-roofed barn.
“Home in the Valley” (1993) is among the many 1000’s of works Ross created on-camera in the course of the present’s run on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations for over a decade. Now, it’s going below the hammer subsequent month in an public sale to profit public broadcasters struggling below President Trump’s federal funding cuts.
Organized by the nonprofit programming syndicator American Public Tv (APT) and performed by Bonhams, the sale will characteristic 30 work by the late artist. Internet proceeds can be distributed throughout APT and PBS stations nationwide, in response to an October 7 announcement from Bob Ross Inc., the corporate managed by Joan Kowalski, daughter of Ross’s former enterprise companions Annette and Walt Kowalski.
“The auction ensures Bob’s legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades,” the announcement mentioned.
Bob Ross, “Winter’s Peace” (1993)
The primary of the gross sales, scheduled for November 11 in Los Angeles, will embrace three of Ross’s works — “Home in the Valley” (1993), “Winter’s Peace” (1993), and “Cliffside” (1990) — as a part of Bonhams’s California & Western Artwork sale. The works are every valued at round $30,000 to $50,000.
The remaining work can be provided in a sequence of auctions throughout Bonhams’s New York, Los Angeles, and Boston salerooms all through 2026, the public sale home instructed Hyperallergic.
Within the many years following his demise, Ross’s legacy of accessible arts training has continued to resonate with many. The Pleasure of Portray, which might nonetheless be watched on YouTube and different streaming platforms, noticed a resurgence in 2020 as new generations of viewers flocked to his calming voice and distinctive broccoli-floret perm amid the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the identical time, each Ross’s legacy and that of the Kowalskis have come below elevated scrutiny and reevaluation.
Bob Ross, “Cliffside” (1990)
In 2019, the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of American Historical past acquired 4 work, and in 2023, “A Walk in the Woods” (1983), which was created for the primary episode of his TV sequence, was valued at round $10 million. (It was rumored to have later bought to an unnamed purchaser for $9.8 million.)
In August, Bonhams bought two work by Ross, “Lake Below Snow-Capped Peaks and Cloudy Sky” (1990–91) and “Lake Below Snow-Covered Mountains and Clear Sky” (1990–91) for $114,800 and $95,750, respectively.
“Bonhams holds the world record for Bob Ross, and with his market continuing to climb, proceeds benefiting American Public Television, and many of the paintings created live on air — a major draw for collectors — we expect spirited bidding and results that could surpass previous records,” Robin Starr, basic supervisor of the public sale home, mentioned in a press release shared with Hyperallergic.
