Originally published on 10/8/25

If you’ve ever wanted to purchase a Bob Ross painting, now is your chance! In November there will be an auction for 30 of his most iconic paintings, with the proceeds going toward funding public television stations. We have everything you need to know about the auction below! 

What to know about the Bob Ross auction 

Ross was an American television host and painter on PBS back in the 1980s and 1990s. He was best known for his curly hair and calm demeanor, both of which made his show The Joy of Painting a massive success. Ross died of cancer complications in 1995, and since then people have been trying to get their hands on one of his iconic landscape paintings. And now, thanks to this new auction, they might have a chance.

The auction, which begins November 11 at Bonhams, an auction house in Los Angeles, will have three paintings up for grabs including “Cliffside,” “Winter’s Peace” and “Home in the Valley”, all of which were painted in the 1990s and are signed by Ross. 

“Bob Ross dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone through public television. This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades,” Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc., said in a statement.

In all, there will be 27 additional paintings for sale (the names have yet to be announced), and together the 30 works of art have an estimated total value of $850,000 to $1.4 million. The best part? All of the earnings are expected to help fund a variety of National Public Radio and PBS stations. The sale comes after President Donald Trump eliminated $1.1 billion in funding for the stations back in May, claiming they aired “biased and partisan news coverage.” This budget cut led to several staff layoffs and program cuts at a variety of  public television stations across the country. 

“Public media has always been a unique public-private partnership, and this auction is a wonderful example of that,” Jim Dunford, president of American Public Television, said in a statement. 

A look at future Bob Ross auctions 

Following the Los Angeles auction, Ross’ paintings will hit the road and head to New York, Boston and London. They will also be available for purchase online, but it’s unclear when exactly that will be. 

“I started painting as a hobby when I was little. I didn’t know I had any talent. I believe talent is just a pursued interest. Anybody can do what I do,” Ross, a former Air Force drill sergeant, once said. 

Aside from the upcoming auction, two other Ross paintings were sold in August for $114,800 and $95,750, respectively. 

“I can tell you that Bob would have been quite shy to learn that his paintings are now selling at six figures. He was never really that interested in his finished works. Bob was more fascinated with the process of painting and sharing that with other people,” Kowalski told the New York Post at the time of the sale. “Truthfully, I can still hear him saying something like, ‘You don’t want my paintings, you want to create your own and hang them proudly on your wall.’”

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/how-to-buy-bob-ross-paintings-at-november-auction-for-pbs