Bob Ross, whose gentle voice soothed a generation of Sunday painters, is back on the auction block. Bonhams has announced it will offer a selection of the late television artist’s works, with all proceeds going to American Public Broadcasting Television. This follows federal funding cuts for all public broadcasters whom President Trump deems not in the country’s interest.
The sale continues a campaign launched in 2025, when 30 Ross paintings donated by Bob Ross Inc. were earmarked to benefit public television. The first three sold in November fetched a combined $662,000, including fees. Winter’s Peace (1993) set a record at $318,000. That record barely lasted a few weeks before Cabin at Sunset (1987) went under the hammer for over $1 million in an online charity auction organised by John Oliver.
“Just let your imagination take you to any world that you want to go to,” he added, “‘cause you can do that.” – Bob Ross
Now, three more paintings will be offered at Bonhams’ “Americana: Crafting a Nation: Art, History & Legacy“ auction on 27 January in Massachusetts. Estimates suggest they could fetch beyond $155,000 collectively.
Valley View (1990), with its snow-capped peaks and still lake, was the first completed for the 21st volume of Ross’s instructional book series, Joy of Painting. Change of Seasons (1990), created live on air during the 11th episode of the 20th season, captures a tumbling river framed by trees and distant mountains. “Just a beautiful little painting,“ Ross titled it at the time. ‘Babbling Brook‘ (1993), a rare oval work, started as a forest glade before Ross, mid-stream, added a waterfall, urging viewers, “Just let your imagination take you to any world you want to go to.”
Bob Ross Change of Seasons (1990). Photo courtesy of Bonhams. American Public Television (APT) will direct 100% of its proceeds from the sale to support public television stations nationwide
The works are rich in their simplicity. They reveal Ross’s method for creating landscapes with a certain authenticity. He let the process guide him, a nod to spontaneity in a medium often seen as rigid.
Over the course of 2026, Bonhams plans to sell another 24 Ross paintings across its salesrooms in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles. The auction house is quick to note that last year’s record-setting sales are just the beginning.
This latest sale is an anomaly in the art market: Ross, once a cultural fixture on Saturday mornings, now commands six-figure prices, while Public Television, the platform that gave Ross his break, faces an existential threat. Public television, a backbone of decades of creative programming, is now relying on collectors’ goodwill and nostalgia for a man who painted “happy little trees.”
The “Americana“ sale, curated by Bonhams, has brought together works to celebrate the United States’ 250th anniversary: rare oils by John James Audubon, sand art by Andrew Clemens, landscapes by Martin Johnson Heade, and a copy of Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware. But the Ross works dominate the imagination. They bring a kind, homespun optimism to a market often consumed by art-market hype and speculators.
Collectors, enthusiasts, and the odd institution will be able to bid for these artworks online at Bonhams. This sale shows that art can serve a purpose beyond the commercial umbrella of institutions and the mega-galleries.