It's nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting that will take you just 30 minutes to complete.



Bob Ross, who hosted the TV program '

Bob's Painting Class ' broadcast on NHK-BS in the 1990s, is known for drawing beautiful landscapes that could be mistaken for photographs in just 30 minutes, saying, 'See? It's easy, right?' In order to complete his paintings quickly, Ross has created tens of thousands of paintings in his lifetime, making him one of the most prolific artists in history, but at the same time, Ross's works are almost impossible to get on the art market. Online media The Hustle talks to art gallery owners, collectors, and companies that preserve Ross's legacy to find out why Ross's works are so rare.

Why it's nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting - The Hustle
https://thehustle.co/why-its-nearly-impossible-to-buy-an-original-bob-ross-painting



The TV program 'Bob's Painting Class,' which was aired on NHK-BS in the 1990s and gained popularity in Japan, is also extremely popular in the United States. The movie 'Today I Found Out,' which summarizes the episodes from Ross's childhood to his youth, when he was actually a soldier, and his journey to becoming a legendary painter, has been played more than 3 million times at the time of writing. Ross passed away in 1995, but on the YouTube channel that collected his lessons, the lesson plan 'The Joy of Painting' has been played more than 10 million times, and some as many as 50 million times. In addition, in 2000, it was announced that Ross's landscape paintings would be used as illustrations for cards in Magic: The Gathering , the world's most popular card game, and it is easy to see his enduring popularity.

Bob Ross, who made a name for himself with 'Bob's Art Class,' reveals his secret life, including his time as a soldier and the origins of the show - GIGAZINE



Below is a graph comparing the total number of works by famous painters shown by The Hustle. Picasso, a prolific painter, had 13,500 works, Monet, Munch, and Dali had about 1,000 to 2,000 works, and Van Gogh and Rembrandt had less than 1,000 works. On the other hand, Ross is thought to have left about 30,000 works, as he painted a new landscape painting in three versions each time before, during, and after the recording in the 381 episodes that ran from 1983 to 1994.



But Crockett says that despite the volume of Ross's work, very few of his works have been sold on the art market. Paints and brushes, mugs and watches, even underwear and toasters purportedly used by Ross can be found trading online, but only a handful of the tens of thousands of paintings Ross produced over his lifetime have been offered at auction.

Many of Ross's works are owned by Bob Ross, Inc., which was founded by Ross and Annette Kowalski, who encouraged him to become independent as an artist. After Ross' death, the ownership of Bob Ross and Ross' works was transferred to Kowalski. Therefore, 1,165 of Ross's original works are still stored in cardboard boxes in the Bob Ross office building.

Joan Kowalski, Anne Kowalski's daughter and current president of Bob Ross, Inc., told The Hustle, 'We are constantly receiving inquiries from people who want to buy Ross's work, but our sole mission is to preserve the incredible mythical presence that is Bob Ross.' From time to time, Bob Ross, Inc. lends a few paintings to galleries and exhibitions around the country, including 54 paintings on display at

the Bob Ross Art Workshop & Gallery in New Smyrna, Florida, and four paintings at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.



However, the total number of works from Bob Ross and the ones currently on display is only about 1,000, and there must still be a large number of paintings on the market that Ross donated or sold during his lifetime. So The Hustle asked Jessica Jenkins, vice president of the Minnetrista exhibition center and Bob Ross researcher, about the works currently in circulation. According to Jenkins, Ross actively donated his paintings to fundraising efforts or sold them at a fair price, so many of Ross's works are displayed in homes and buildings by people who acquired them decades ago. In fact, in 2025, four of Ross's works will be displayed at a station affiliated with a program that Ross appeared on, and tourists from overseas will come just to see them.

As a result, although many of Ross's works are in circulation, they are not often auctioned in the general art market, except for a few enthusiastic collectors. 'Ross's work is so popular and difficult to obtain because everyone recognizes it,' said gallery owner Ryan Nelson, who has been buying and reselling Ross's work for 10 years. 'We buy and sell more of Ross's work than any other gallery on the planet, and to maintain that status, we charge a fairly high price for the works we purchase.' The gap between the high demand and the rarity, combined with the high resale prices by certain galleries, has resulted in the current situation where works that are seemingly easy to obtain, such as 'works painted within 30 minutes of the program,' are rarely seen at auction.

Another big reason is that Ross 'emphasized the process, not the finished product. He had almost no interest in painting itself. For him, painting was a journey, a way to teach people.'

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