Bob Ross made thousands of paintings in his career, and curiously, he often created three copies of them. Here's why.
How Many Paintings Bob Ross Made—And Why He Created Copies of Each
Updated on Jul. 25, 2025
Throughout most of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, PBS aired The Joy of Painting, a quiet art show that might’ve been lost to the annals of history if it weren’t for the magnetic host. He had a short, sweet name, a soothing voice and a distinctive perm. That’s right: Bob Ross. Four decades later, and we’re still curious about the ’80s TV icon. Exactly how many paintings did Bob Ross make over the course of his career? And what’s this we hear about him making three versions?
Whether you’re an art lover or just a fan of tiny, happy trees (a Bob Ross special), you’re no doubt curious about the painter who became a cultural touchstone. You’re in luck: We’ve unearthed the most fascinating details. Ahead, you’ll learn how many paintings Bob Ross made, how much they go for today and, perhaps most intriguing, the real reason he made three copies of each painting that he created.
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How many paintings did Bob Ross make?
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the artist produced more than 30,000 paintings in his lifetime. But he didn’t create them all on The Joy of Painting. So how many paintings did Bob Ross make on the show? Estimates put the number at 1,143.
That may seem like a lot—until you consider the fact that Ross made three copies of each piece. Here’s how it breaks down: The show ran on PBS for 403 episodes, and Ross produced a painting in 381 of them. (The other episodes featured a guest painter.) Theoretically, all of these would have three copies. Three times 381 equals 1,143.
Why did Bob Ross make three copies of each painting?
Ross’s process of creating three different versions of the same painting came from a place of practicality. (What, you thought it was because he made so many mistakes? You know what Ross would say: “We don’t make mistakes. We have happy accidents.”) Let’s break down this art mystery.
First, he’d make a model of the painting he was going to create on the show so that he’d have a reference for the taping. Then, he painted a second version during the show. It’s similar to the way the guides at today’s paint bars have a display painting for participants to follow but also paint a fresh version along with participants. Bob Ross was a true pioneer!
So that’s two copies already. But what about the third? The final copy was for his instructional books and was supposed to be the most “flawless” version. Ross had something of a third-time-is-the-charm mentality.
How much does a Bob Ross painting cost?
The value of Ross’s paintings varies, ranging from $8,000 to $10 million. In 2023, the Minneapolis-based gallery Modern Artifact listed one of his paintings for a whopping $9.8 million. Bob Ross made this painting on the very first episode of the first season of The Joy of Painting. However, as Artnet points out, the gallery owners weren’t actually selling it—they were just trying to increase its worth and ultimately get it displayed in a museum.
Where are the paintings made by Bob Ross now?
They’re sitting in a warehouse. Yes, really.
In July 2019, the New York Times set out to discover why this celebrated artist’s paintings are so notoriously difficult to find and buy. It turns out that a massive collection of them is just sitting in boxes in a Virginia warehouse that also serves as the offices of Bob Ross Inc. A few pieces hang on the walls of the same building.
Bob Ross Inc. is owned by Annette Kowalski, the woman who first “discovered” Ross and later became his business partner.
Is it possible to buy a Bob Ross painting?
The team at Bob Ross Inc. is adamant that they’ll never sell his paintings. “It never occurred to us to … change the whole concept that we’re not in it to sell paintings,” president Joan Kowalski told the New York Times. Ross reportedly didn’t want them up for sale, and even his internet popularity hasn’t pressured the company to change its stance on that.
Besides, if you’ve ever seen the show, you know that Ross emphasised learning. One of the reasons the team doesn’t want to sell his work, regardless of how famous his paintings have become, is because they believe his true passion was to teach everyone how to paint so they could hang their own artwork on the wall.
Where can you see a Bob Ross painting?
Some of Bob Ross’s paintings emerged from those boxes for display in one of the most popular museums in the world: The Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Four out of the many paintings that Bob Ross made, chosen by Smithsonian curators, are now part of the museum’s permanent collection. You can even see one of them, “On a Clear Day,” on display.
And soon you’ll be able to see even more of them. A new exhibition at the Minnestrita Museum and Gardens in Muncie, Indiana, will prominently feature Ross’s happy landscapes in late 2025 or early 2026, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Minnestrita Museum already features a Bob Ross Experience, which has some of his original paintings and a restored television studio where The Joy of Painting was recorded. Interestingly, Muncie was where the hit ’80s show was filmed for over a decade.
In short, art enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to. But if you’re antsy for more art before you can check out Ross’s paintings in person, use this as your cue to make your own. As the great painter put it, “All you need is the desire to make beautiful things happen on canvas.”
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Sources:
- Smithsonian Magazine: “New Investigation Answers Pressing Question: Whatever Happened to All of Bob Ross’ Paintings?”
- The New York Times: “Where Are All the Bob Ross Paintings? We Found Them”
- Atlas Obscura: “Almost Every Original Bob Ross Painting Lives in a Virginia Office Park”
- Bob Ross Inc.: “About Bob Ross”
- Modern Artifact: “How Much Are Bob Ross Paintings Worth”
- Artnet: “Bob Ross’s First-Ever TV Painting Has Been Listed at $9.8 Million, But Is It All a Gallery’s Ploy to Boost the Painter’s Market?”
- The Wall Street Journal: “Bob Ross Finally Gets the Museum Treatment”
- Minnestrita Museum and Gardens: “Bob Ross Experience”
- NBC Chicago: “Expanded exhibit paying homage to Bob Ross set to open at Indiana museum: Report”
