Bob Ross’ first “television” creation goes under the hammer for nearly $10 million

THE Bob Ross left an era in television with his legendary show “The Joy of Painting” which taught many to love painting, but also painting. For years his admirers and various art collectors they were trying to find out what happened to his works. Now, he’s going under the hammer… the first painting he presented to the public in the first episode of his TV show for about ten million dollars.

The painting titled A Walk in the Woods has been officially listed for sale by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based art gallery Modern Artifact for $9.85 million. A Walk in the Woods was painted live on air in January 1983 and represents everything that audiences loved about Ross and his mission of art.

It depicts a tranquil forest scene in shades of gold and blue, painted in Ross’ preferred liquid-on-liquid technique, with intricate brushstrokes and, of course, an abundance of happy trees. In the lower left corner, Ross’s signature stands out in red.

Before being acquired by the gallery, the work was owned by an intern at the PBS station Falls Church, Virginia, where the first season of “The Joy of Painting” aired. He bought it in November 1983 at a fund-raising auction of the station, a few months after its creation. Verified as authentic by Bob Ross Inc.

“A Unique Painting”

“It’s a really unbeatable, one-of-a-kind painting,” gallery owner Ryan Nelson said. “Ideally, we’d like to share it with a museum or traveling exhibit to allow as many people as possible to see such a fascinating piece of art.”he added.

The painting is just one of 30,000 created by Ross during his lifetime, creating over 1,000 of them for the TV show. Nelson stated of Ross’s influence on art and cultural history: “Bob Ross has surpassed Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso as the most searched artist on the internet according to Google Analytics. It’s an incredibly impressive feat, especially when you consider that there is virtually no official marketing and his original paintings are almost impossible to find.”.

When Twitch ran a Ross marathon, streaming all 403 episodes of the show in 2015, the platform claimed 5.6 million unique viewers tuned in. Now, there is Netflix documentary Bob Ross: Happy Accidentsas well as a film with Owen Wilson, inspired by Ross called “Paint”.

“The Joy of Painting,” which aired on PBS from 1983 to 1994, has now become iconic. Even now, 40 years after it first aired, people still watch the episodes and draw. Ross himself also became an icon for his kind, positive teaching and his belief that there is an artist hidden within all of us. “I hope you’ve got your brush ready and a dream in your heart,” Ross says at the start of the show’s first episode, minutes before he begins painting his now-treasured work.