An Original Bob Ross Painting Can Be Yours This Saturday
An original oil painting — featuring happy little trees, of course — painted by Ross is the star of a Rhode Island winter comic, sport and toy auction.
Travis Landry, director of pop culture at Bruneau & Co., holds an original Bob Ross painting that’s the highlight of a winter comic, sport and toy auction this Saturday. Photo courtesy of Travis Landry.
If you’ve ever wanted to get your hands on a Bob Ross painting, now’s your chance.
An original oil painting — featuring happy little trees, of course — painted by Ross during his time in Alaska is the highlight of a winter comic, sport and toy auction hosted by Cranston auction house Bruneau & Co. this Saturday.
“This has always been something on my agenda, because they are extremely rare to find,” says Travis Landry, Bruneau & Co.’s director of pop culture who’s a frequent appraiser on TV’s “Antiques Roadshow.” “There’s an argument that he was the most prolific painter in history with tens of thousands of works made, but they’re almost impossible to come across.”
The circa-1970s Bob Ross winter scene painted on a novelty gold pan. Photo courtesy of Bruneau & Co.
The winter scene is done in oil on velvet on a novelty gold pan, a common trinket in Alaska at the time, Landry says. Ross likely painted it in the 1970s when he was stationed with the Air Force, and long before he starred in his long-running series “The Joy of Painting,” a pop culture phenomenon that aired on PBS stations from 1983 to 1994. He would sell the round paintings at local art fairs for around $50.
The painting comes with a certificate of authenticity from Bob Ross Inc. and is valued at $5,000-$8,000. It’s a far cry from the estimated $30,000-$50,000 that a larger framed Bob Ross would go for, but Landry will happily take it.
“I’ll take a gold pan; that’s close enough in my book,” he says. “It’s a real Bob Ross.”
It was originally found in the Warwick home of a person who lived in Alaska before moving to Rhode Island.
A 1982 Return of the Jedi lightsaber store display — and lightsabers — just ready for play space jousting. Photo courtesy of Bruneau & Co.
The auction features a whopping 770 lots of goodies and is the biggest in the auction house’s history, says Travis. Other highlights include — ready for this, fellow nerds? — a 1982 Kenner Return of the Jedi lightsaber store display with two lime-green plastic “swords” ready for space jousting and a factory-sealed 1980 Empire Strikes Back Star Destroyer playset.
Other toys include sealed Hasbro G.I. Joe figures sourced from a Pennsylvania estate and Landry’s personal favorites (beside the Bob Ross painting, of course): a lot of 1970s and 1980s Japanese robots from a collection in New Hampshire.
Comic books and trading cards will round out the remaining 518 lots, including Hank Aaron’s 1954 rookie Topps baseball card, a copy of Fantastic Four No. 1 valued at between $10,000-$15,000, and an Amazing Spider-Man No. 1 from March 1963 expected to fetch $3,000-$5,000.
Previews will be held Thursday and Friday, from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at the gallery, located at 63 4th Ave., Cranston. The auction will be held Saturday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. at the gallery and online. Visit bruneauandco.com for more information.
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