Bob Ross Paintings to Benefit Public Television in Historic Auction
Thirty Original Works to Support Educational Programming in Face of Funding Cuts
In an unprecedented fusion of art and public service, thirty original paintings by beloved Joy of Painting television host and artist Bob Ross will be auctioned with international auction house, Bonhams, starting this November 11th.
The paintings are offered by distributor American Public Television (APT), which has pledged to direct 100% of its net sales proceeds to APT public television stations nationwide.
Conceived by Joan Kowalski, President of Bob Ross Inc. and in conjunction with Bonhams, the sale represents the largest single offering of Bob Ross original works ever brought to market.
“Bob Ross dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone through public television,” said Kowalski.
“This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades. I can’t think of a more meaningful way to share his works of art than by
supporting public television’s mission to educate and inspire.”
The historic auction comes at a critical time for public television, which faces recent reductions in federal
funding and the projected demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a significant financing source. The proceeds will specifically benefit the Create® multicast channel launched in 2006 by APT in association with WGBH Boston and The WNET Group. Create provides around-the-clock broadcasts of the most popular lifestyle and educational content that has become essential viewing for millions of Americans, including food, travel, home and garden, and arts and crafts programming. Shows include This Old House, The Best of the Joy of Painting, America’s Test Kitchen, Rick Steves’ Europe, Samantha Brown’s Places to Love, Pati’s Mexican Table, J Schwanke’s Life in Bloom, The Great American Recipe and Julia Child’s French Chef Classics among a host of others.
Reaching more than 84% of homes across the country and 30 million viewers, Create requires individual station licensing fees – an operational expense that can particularly challenge smaller and rural stations. The auction proceeds will help to defray this cost burden, making Create available to more public television stations. This enables stations to maintain their educational programming while redirecting funds toward other critical operations and local content production threatened by federal funding cuts.
“Public media has always been a unique public-private partnership, and this auction is a wonderful example of that,” said Jim Dunford, President of American Public Television. “With the proceeds focused on Create this ensures our stations ability to deliver this impactful content to communities across the country.”
The beloved series The Joy of Painting has aired without interruption on public television since 1983, teaching millions of viewers that anyone could create beautiful art. The thirty paintings to be auctioned span Bob Ross’ career and include iconic landscapes depicting serene mountains vistas and lake scenes – all previously unseen by the public except during their creation in individual episodes of the TV series. Bonhams, the international auction house, will handle the November sale, bringing Ross’ work to the prestigious New York art market in this capacity.
The auction represents an innovative approach to arts funding, leveraging the enduring popularity of Bob Ross – whose work has experienced a remarkable renaissance among younger generations through online platforms and social media – to address contemporary challenges in public media financing. Ross’ gentle teaching style and positive philosophy made him a cultural icon whose influence extends far beyond the art world.
For updates and to stay informed about this historic event, please visit Bonhams or follow Bob Ross Inc.
@bobross_joyofpainting. Detailed information about individual paintings and bidding will be available through Bonhams auction house closer to the auction date.
