Rare Bob Ross original sells for $47,500 at Maryland auction, well above estimates

Luke Parker, Baltimore Sun on Nov 1, 2025

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BALTIMORE — A “happy little” painting sold for $47,500 in Towson on Friday — well above estimates — in a rare auction of a Bob Ross original.

Ross, whose soft-spoken TV lessons on “The Joy of Painting” reached millions, painted more than 1,100 works on his public television program and nearly 30,000 in his lifetime. Few reach the market.

The cabin-by-the-lake scene sold at Alex Cooper Auctioneers, and like many privately owned Ross pieces, it was originally a gift from the TV instructor. According to the auction house, the recipients passed it to their daughter, who, upon her death, willed it to her brother-in-law, the seller, who contacted the Baltimore County business this spring.

“I don’t think he had any idea what its value was,” said John Locke, a senior specialist at the auction house who first spoke with the seller. When told the painting could fetch more than $20,000, the seller “was really surprised,” Locke said.

The first bids for the painting were made online Friday morning, surpassing the company’s high-end estimate of $30,000 before the auction even began. When its lot number was called and the handful of in-person customers heard the starting price of $35,000, some gasped, another shook her head and one woman muttered, “wow.” A signed Pablo Picasso poster had sold for $1,100 just moments before.

Like many, Locke said he has “positive connections” with the artist — the 29-year staff member said he would turn on “The Joy of Painting” to help calm his crying baby — but he “never would have guessed” Ross’ work would pull so much cash.

“A next generation is going to come up. He won’t be as well known,” Locke told The Baltimore Sun. “He’ll kind of be, ‘that was my parents’ art and I don’t understand what the big deal was.’ So these guys sold it, in my opinion, at the right time.”

No one in the Towson showroom placed a bid on the cabin painting, and the buyer’s name was not identified.

Similar auctions coming to public TV’s rescue

While sales like Friday’s are rare, dozens of other Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned in coming months to support public broadcasting.

Bob Ross Inc., the company Ross founded in 1985 alongside his wife, Jane, and business partners Walt and Annette Kowalski, has collaborated with the nonprofit syndicator American Public Television to auction off 30 original paintings. The first three will be sold by the Los Angeles auction house Bonhams on Nov. 11, with the rest hitting the market throughout 2026.

All proceeds will go toward easing the burden of licensing fees for public TV stations, which face an uncertain future as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, one of their most significant funders, prepares to shut down.

A September news release called the charity sale the largest single offering of Bob Ross originals to date. Although paintings — and fakes — appear online, the company rarely sells pieces from its archives.

When Bob Ross Inc. President Joan Kowalski, daughter of the co-founders, heard the Towson price, she asked, “Is that good?”

“I don’t know enough about these auctions,” she told a reporter. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

Kowalski said the company certifies Ross paintings it reviews “because there’s so many bootlegs out there.” Without consistent markets, some buyers may have been “ripped off,” she said. Locke noted the last Ross painting Alex Cooper sold, 15 or 20 years ago, brought $8,000.

If the upcoming fundraiser raises “real money” for public broadcasting, Kowalski said, “I would probably do it again.”

Although Friday’s lake scene came from a private seller, Alex Cooper’s director of art, Kathleen Hamill, said it was “very exciting” for the Towson auction house to feature Ross.

Several Alex Cooper staffers serve as on-air appraisers for Maryland Public Television’s “Chesapeake Collectibles.” Hamill said showcasing work by Ross, whose art and persona are often invoked by public media supporters, felt fitting.

“We love to have it just to draw attention to public TV,” she said.