Copyright The New York Times
Three Bob Ross paintings sold at auction in Los Angeles for over $600,000 on Tuesday, the first of 30 canvases by the artist and television host to be sold as part of a campaign to help public broadcasters across the United States weather federal funding cuts. The sales were announced by Bonhams, the auction house that hosted the auction. It plans to sell the other 27 paintings at several auctions next year in Boston, New York and Los Angeles. The proceeds will benefit public television stations across the country that have been grappling with the Trump administration’s cancellation of $1.1 billion in funding for public media. Mr. Ross, who died at 52 in 1995, became a beloved pop culture figure in the 1980s by hosting “The Joy Of Painting,” a PBS show carried by hundreds of public television stations. Joan Kowalski, the president of Bob Ross Inc., the company that oversees the Ross empire, donated the 30 paintings to American Public Television, a syndicator that distributes “The Joy of Painting” and other programs to hundreds of public television channels. Most of the works have only been seen on the air, when Mr. Ross painted them. Ms. Kowalski came up with the idea for the auction after seeing that Bonhams had sold two privately owned paintings by Mr. Ross in August for around $100,000 each. Proceeds from the auctions will go to American Public Television, and the syndicator will disperse the money to broadcasters in need of relief. Neither American Public Television nor Bob Ross Inc. could be reached for comment late Tuesday.
