It’s hard to quantify the value of painter and all-around cultural icon Bob Ross, but $9.85 million is a good start.
The very first on-air painting from the very first episode of Ross’ beloved series “The Joy of Painting” is looking for a new owner after being kept safe for decades by one of the show’s early volunteers.
“A Walk in the Woods” was painted live on-air in January of 1983, and typifies everything the public came to love about Ross and his art-positive mission. It depicts a placid woodland scene in shades of gold and blue, painted with Ross’ preferred “wet on wet” technique, with deceptively complex-looking brushstrokes and, of course, an abundance of happy little trees. In the lower lefthand corner, Ross’ signature stands out in red.
I just wanted to comment that Bob Ross’s name and image is controlled not by his estate, but by his former business partners. There are a couple of good articles out there, but the tl/dr is that they stole the business from him as he was dying.
It sounds like the painting being offered for sale was in private hands, but I hate to see a price point like that being set while the vast majority of his work is owned by the people who screwed him and his family.
