Three paintings from the famously chill public television legend Bob Ross sold on Tuesday for more than US$600,000 (NZ$1 million) at auction.
The paintings were the first of 30 Ross works being sold to benefit public TV stations hurt by cuts in federal funding.
At the live auction at Bonhams in Los Angeles, a serene, snow vista called Winter's Peace that Ross painted entirely during a 1993 episode of The Joy of Painting went for $318,000 (NZ$562,190) to a bidder on the phone.
“For a good cause — and you get the painting,” auctioneer Aaron Bastian said during the bidding. He invoked a common sentiment of Ross, who died in 1995, during a brief lull. “Bob would remind you that this is your world, and you can do anything you want.”
Another painting done on a 1993 episode, a lush, green landscape called Home in the Valley, went for US$229,100 (NZ$405,024). A third, Cliffside, sold for $114,800 (NZ$202,954).
The final prices include a charge for the auction house added to the final bid known as the buyer's premium. The identities of the buyers weren't immediately revealed.
Bids for all three paintings went well past pre-auction estimates of their value, which topped out around US$50,000 (NZ$88,388).
Three more Ross paintings will be up for auction at Bonhams in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on January 27, with others to follow, including one in New York.
All profits are pledged to stations that use content from distributor American Public Television.
Ross, a public television staple in the 1980s and '90s, was known for his dome of hair and warm demeanour.
The special sales seek to help stations in need of licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs that along with Ross' show include America's Test Kitchen, Julia Child's French Chef Classics, and This Old House. Small and rural stations are particularly challenged.
The stations “have been the gateway for generations of viewers to discover not just Bob’s gentle teaching, but the transformative power of the arts”, Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc, said in a statement.
As sought by the Trump Administration, Congress has eliminated US$1.1 billion (NZ$1.9 billion) allocated to public broadcasting, leaving about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations.
Ross died at age 52 of complications from cancer after 11 years in production with the therapeutic how-to show, The Joy of Painting. The former Air Force drill sergeant was a sort of pioneer, known for his calm — and calming — manner and encouraging words.
Ross spoke often as he worked on air about painting happy little clouds and trees, and making no mistakes, only "happy accidents".
He has only become more popular in the decades since his death, and his shows surged in popularity during the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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