Bob Ross $9.8M at auction 0

[Peter G]

Look at the little trees
 

https://nypost.com/2023/09/20/bob-ross-first-piece-featured-in-the-joy-of-painting-earns-9-8m-at-auction/

[SpineTic]

[pemart1966]

On 9/22/2023 at 10:02 AM, Peter G said:

Look at the little trees
 

https://nypost.com/2023/09/20/bob-ross-first-piece-featured-in-the-joy-of-painting-earns-9-8m-at-auction/

LITTLE trees = BIG price tag

[KirbyCollector]

We aren't the only suckers for nostalgia

[Bronty]

somebody actually bought that?   I hope that's on the up and up.   I guess its possible.

[Ryan.]

I'd love to own that. I'd rather own the ten million bucks but owning the painting would be cool too.

[Dr. Balls]

Cool conversation piece to talk about with all your yacht club buddies.

[tth2]

On 9/23/2023 at 3:28 AM, Dr. Balls said:

Cool conversation piece to talk about with all your yacht club buddies.

Only if it's the Thomas Kinkaid Yacht Club.

[tth2]

“most historically significant Bob Ross original painting ever created” 

[Randall Dowling]

I guess P.T. Barnum was right, there's one born every minute.

[Axelrod]

Dudes. It's art.  Way stupider stuff happens than this. 

[Kevin76]

"He over works the painting" - Frazetta on Bob Ross  

[Cliff R.]

Considering the popularity of Bob Ross, this is not surprising.  He actually inspired me to give it a try.

My (unfinished) tribute to Bob...

[1950's war comics]

i was astounded everytime i watched his show back then, he made it look so easy !

[JollyComics]

On 9/23/2023 at 12:07 AM, Cliff R. said:

Considering the popularity of Bob Ross, this is not surprising.  He actually inspired me to give it a try.

My (unfinished) tribute to Bob...

It looks good.  Finish it up!!

[comix4fun]

On 9/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, Bronty said:

somebody actually bought that?   I hope that's on the up and up.   I guess its possible.

No, they didn't, not according to the gallery's website and every other news source aside from the usually reliable NY POST (insert sarcasm emoji here). 
So, we might need some corroboration given that the NY Post story was from three days ago and every other news source has more recent articles and references to the gallery having it for sale at that number (not at auction, again...thank you NY Post) as recently as yesterday. 

https://modernartifact.com/collections/bob-ross/products/bob-ross-signed-on-air-original-painting-from-season-1-episode-1-of-the-joy-of-painting-1

[Cliff R.]

On 9/23/2023 at 9:29 AM, 1950's war comics said:

i was astounded everytime i watched his show back then, he made it look so easy !

And he had a completed oil painting within 25 minutes. 

If Frazetta actually said that Bob "over works the painting", he should have realized that would not be plausible given the time constraint.

 

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/23/2023 at 3:26 PM, Cliff R. said:

And he had a completed oil painting within 25 minutes. 

If Frazetta actually said that Bob "over works the painting", he should have realized that would not be plausible given the time constraint.

 

Pretty sure Frazetta's comment wasn't about time spent.  It was about lack of focus or attention to detail for the work.  Ross treated all parts of the canvas with the same amount of detail.  There is no focus, nothing he was trying to communicate.  He was just making a landscape, and not very well at that.

I think a pretty strong argument could be made that Bob Ross didn't understand light very well, either.  Apparently, this planet has multiple suns and some very confusing flora (I don't know what that thing at the bottom right is but it's not a plant that grows on Earth).

[tth2]

On 9/24/2023 at 10:57 AM, Randall Dowling said:

 

I think a pretty strong argument could be made that Bob Ross didn't understand light very well, either.  Apparently, this planet has multiple suns and some very confusing flora (I don't know what that thing at the bottom right is but it's not a plant that grows on Earth).

 

So you're saying you prefer works by The Painter of Light? 

[KingOfRulers]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:57 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Pretty sure Frazetta's comment wasn't about time spent.  It was about lack of focus or attention to detail for the work.  Ross treated all parts of the canvas with the same amount of detail.  There is no focus, nothing he was trying to communicate.  He was just making a landscape, and not very well at that.

I think a pretty strong argument could be made that Bob Ross didn't understand light very well, either.  Apparently, this planet has multiple suns and some very confusing flora (I don't know what that thing at the bottom right is but it's not a plant that grows on Earth).

I think Bob Ross created some beautiful works of art. That particular piece, I wouldn't call anywhere among my favorites, however all artists have their hits and misses.

I love Ross' mountains and lakes/rivers pieces the most. Coincidentally, I just watched a Bob Ross episode a few nights ago, and he painted a mountain scene. I thought it was fantastic.

The fact that he was able to create such works in 25-30 minutes makes it even more amazing. The technique to be able to create such lovely work so quickly is mind-blowing for me. Classical painters from centuries past could spend weeks or months to create similar looking pieces.

Ross' speedmanship is something that our legendary comic artists of the Golden Age and Silver Age wish they could do as they were paid by the page. Jack Kirby came up with his quintessential look and style for the sake of speed. It was a distinctive, bold look that he could produce quickly. He was creating roughly 2 pages per day. Given an unlimited amount of time and creative freedom, Kirby's work would look completely different. I bet he would've loved to have been able to produce 1 page every 30 minutes like Ross did with his paintings. Even 1 page every couple hours would've doubled his output.

Edited September 24, 2023 by KingOfRulers