Three paintings from beloved public television legend Bob Ross sold for more than $600,000 at a Los Angeles auction, with every penny going to benefit public TV stations devastated by the elimination of $1.1 billion in federal funding that supports 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations across America. The star of the sale was “Winter’s Peace,” a serene snow vista that Ross painted entirely during a 1993 episode of “The Joy of Painting,” which sold for $318,000 to a phone bidder while the auctioneer reminded the crowd that Bob would say “this is your world, and you can do anything you want.” Another 1993 episode painting called “Home in the Valley” went for $229,100, and a third work titled “Cliffside” sold for $114,800, with all three paintings selling well past pre auction estimates that topped out around $50,000.
The special sales are helping stations pay for licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs including Ross’s show along with “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Julia Child’s French Chef Classics,” and “This Old House,” with small and rural stations particularly challenged by the funding cuts. Bob Ross Inc. president Joan Kowalski emphasized that these stations “have been the gateway for generations of viewers to discover not just Bob’s gentle teaching, but the transformative power of the arts.” The former Air Force drill sergeant who became famous for painting happy little clouds and trees, insisting there were no mistakes but only “happy accidents,” died at age 52 in 1995 after 11 years of his therapeutic how to show. Twenty seven more Ross paintings will be sold at upcoming auctions in Massachusetts and New York, ensuring that the man who brought calm and creativity to millions during his life continues to save the very stations that made him a household name, proving that his legacy of kindness and encouragement lives on in the most beautiful way possible.
