Three more paintings by PBS icon Bob Ross are going up for sale at Bonham’s at the end of the month, as part of a group of 30 such works being sold to raise money for the beleaguered public-broadcasting entity American Public Television (APT).
ˆThe three works will be on offer in the “Americana: Crafting a Nation: Art, History & Legacy” sale in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on January 27, with estimates for the three reaching up to $155,000.
Last year, Bonhams was consigned to sell 30 works by Ross, the Joy of Painting host whose status as the brush-wielding artist with improbably shapely hair was known far beyond the confines of galleries and museums. The high estimate for the group of the works at the time was $1.4 million, and subsequent sales have met with success: In November, three works by Ross sold for a combined $662,000 with fees, and then another work went for more than $1 million in a sale organized by trenchant comedian and TV news host John Oliver.
As chronicled by the Art Newspaper, the upcoming “Americana” sale will include three Ross paintings made in the midst of filming episodes of The Joy of Painting for broadcast or for other purposes. Valley View (1990) was made for the 21st volume of Ross’s Joy of Painting instructional book, and is estimated to sell for $30,000–$50,000. Change of Seasons (1990), with a $40,000–$60,000 estimate, was created for the 11th episode of the show’s 20th season. And Babbling Brook (1993), estimated to sell for between $25,000–$45,000, was painted for the first episode of season 30. About the last work, Ross said on-air, “Let your imagination take you to any world that you want to go to.”
Sales of the works by Ross follow the announcement last year that the Trump administration would cut $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting through the fiscal year 2027.
