The original post: /r/television by /u/cmaia1503 on 2025-11-25 05:28:14+00:00.
There are no mistakes: Late artist Bob Ross‘ happy trees are about to once again help out public broadcasting. On last week’s 2025 finale of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” the host convinced the Bob Ross estate to auction another of the PBS TV stars’ paintings to support public media. And it has paid off: Ross’ “Cabin at Sunset,” which he painted on a Season 10 episode of PBS’ “The Joy of Painting” in 1986, had fetched around $1,044,000 after 35 bids.
As bids closed on Monday night at midnight ET, this represented a new auction record for a Bob Ross painting. Earlier this month, Bonhams Los Angeles auctioned off three more of Ross’ “Joy of Painting” works, to support American Public Television — the company that continues to distribute “Joy of Painting.” On Nov. 11, “Winter’s Peace” (1993) sold for $318,000, while “Cliffside” (1990) went for $229,100 and “Home in the Valley” was sold at $114,800. All told, those three paintings nabbed $662,000 — and are now dwarfed by this new figure.
On the show’s Nov. 16 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver detailed how the decision by the Trump Administration and Congress to eliminate $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting earlier this year has severely impacted radio and TV stations, particularly in rural areas. That’s why the show launched “John Oliver’s Junk,” a website with 65 items (most from the show) that were up for bid to support public broadcasting — including “Cabin at Sunset.”
All told, the auction raised nearly $1.54 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund, which is assisting local public broadcasters in temporarily finding new funds in the wake of the CPB closure.