Three original Bob Ross paintings sold at auction Tuesday for more than $600,000, with all proceeds benefitting public television stations hit hard by recent federal funding cuts. The sale, held by Bonhams, was the first in a planned series of auctions featuring 30 Ross originals — the largest release of his artwork ever made available to the public.
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Record bids for iconic works
Ross’s “Winter Peace” — painted during a 1993 episode of “The Joy of Painting” — sold for $318,000. His “Home in the Valley” fetched $229,100, while “Cliffside” went for $114,000.
Each piece far exceeded its pre-auction estimates, which topped out around $50,000, according to CBS News.
Other paintings still available
Tuesday’s auction was just the first of several benefit sales scheduled through 2026, with the next set for Jan. 27 at Bonhams in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
The specific paintings being auctioned off have not been disclosed. However, Bob Ross Inc. says the full collection will be released gradually, marking the largest release of Ross originals to the public ever.
Paintings for a purpose
All proceeds from the sales will go directly to public television stations that air programming from American Public Television, including the Create Channel – a lifestyle network that continues to broadcast Ross’s classic episodes.
The auction comes at a critical time. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order cutting roughly $1.1 billion in federal support for PBS and NPR, citing what he called “biased and partisan news coverage.”
The move left about 330 PBS and 246 NPR affiliates searching for alternative funding sources.
Gabriella Jones-Litchfield, president of GJL Media, spoke to Straight Arrow News this week, saying proceeds will specifically go to Create Channel, which is “the premium lifestyle channel for public television stations.”
The joy lives on
Ross hosted “The Joy of Painting” from 1983 to 1994, inspiring millions to pick up a brush with his soothing voice and timeless reminder that there are “no mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
Now, three decades after his death, his art is once again helping sustain the kind of public broadcasting that first brought his “happy trees” into America’s homes.
