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A signed work by famed 20th-century artist Bob Ross for the first episode of his popular TV show “The Joy of Painting” has sold for more than $9.8 million at a Minneapolis auction house.
The oil-on-canvas painting, titled “A Walk in the Woods,” was created in 1983 at the start of the late artist’s illustrious public television career and was sold by Modern Artifact in Minneapolis.
TV painting teacher/artist Bob Ross jubilantly holds up a palette and brushes as he stands in his studio in front of a wall covered in his landscape paintings. (Acey Harper/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
The painting was described by Modern Artifact as the “most historically significant original painting by Bob Ross ever created.”
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“I think all of us have wanted to paint a picture at some point in our lives,” Ross says at the beginning of the episode in which the painting is shown. “I believe there is an artist in each of us. Here we will try to show you how to bring out this artist.”
TV painting teacher/artist Bob Ross examines a piece from his collection of turn-of-the-century Victorian opaline glass next to a cabinet full of decanters and dishes at home. (Acey Harper/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images/File / Fox News)
The auction house said pieces from Bob Ross episodes were “extraordinarily rare” to find. “A Walk in the Woods” is signed “Ross” in red in red on the lower left front and includes a certificate of authenticity from Bob Ross, Inc. and a written statement from Ross.
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Ross, who became interested in painting after taking an art class during his 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force, rarely sold his work except through the distribution of early gold pans, which he sold while stationed in Alaska.
Bob Ross died of cancer on July 4, 1995 at the age of 52. (Acey Harper/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
The Florida native’s instructional painting show, which aired from 1983 to 1994, remains popular today, with fans appreciating his uniquely soothing voice and cheerful demeanor. The gentle artist often used phrases like “happy little trees” and “happy accidents” to describe the unplanned but beautiful moments that happened while painting.
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Over the course of his career as a painter, he created around 30,000 paintings, according to Modern Artifact. The painting legend died of lymphoma in 1995 at the age of 52.