Bonhams has revealed the next works by the beloved US television painter Bob Ross it will offer for sale, with auction proceeds going toward public television following devastating funding cuts by president Donald Trump’s administration. More than $1bn in federal funding previously allocated to support public broadcasters was slashed by the Republican-controlled congress last year.
Last year, Bonhams announced it would sell 30 Ross paintings donated by Bob Ross Inc to benefit public television. The first three paintings from the group went up for sale in November and fetched a combined total of $662,000 with fees. Ross’s painting Winter’s Peace (1993) sold for $318,000 with fees, setting an auction record for the artist. Just weeks later, that record was shattered again when his painting Cabin at Sunset (1987) sold for more than $1m in an online charity auction for the Public Media Bridge Fund initiative, organised by the television host John Oliver.
Three more Ross paintings will be part of the "Americana: Crafting a Nation: Art, History & Legacy" auction on 27 January at Bonhams in Massachusetts, and could fetch as much as $155,000 collectively, according to the auction house’s estimates.
Valley View (1990) is estimated to sell for between $30,000 and $50,000, and was the first work completed for the 21st volume of Ross’s Joy of Painting instructional book. Change of Seasons (1990) comes with an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, and was completed live on air in 1990, on the 11th episode of the 20th season of his The Joy of Painting television series. In that episode, Ross describes the scene as "just a beautiful little painting".
Babbling Brook (1993), a unique oval-shaped painting, is estimated to fetch between $25,000 and $45,000. It was completed during filming for the first episode of the 30th season of The Joy of Painting. Ross often let the subject in his landscapes develop as he went along, encouraging viewers to add spontaneous details as they saw fit. While painting Babbling Brook, Ross said, “I see something!” and painted in a waterfall, adding: “Let your imagination take you to any world that you want to go to.”
An additional 24 Ross works will be sold throughout this year across Bonhams salesrooms in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, the auction house says.