Who has not ever stared with fascination at Bob Ross who conjured up characteristic natural landscapes on TV with his brush? Soon you will also be able to admire his paintings in real life, because an exhibition with his work will open on 8 November in Museum More in Gorssel, Gelderland.
“It is not even so much the forty paintings by Bob Ross that we are concerned with”, Artistic director Ype Koopmans of Museum More told EditieNL. “It is mainly about the phenomenon Bob Ross as a cultural icon. He was a disarmingly happy promoter of the joy of painting, who in an authentic and accessible way allay people’s fear of art making and viewing.”
Viewer’s attention
Ross – who died in 1995 – knew exactly how to take the viewer with him, according to Koopmans. “Of all the American artists of the last phase of the last century, Bob Ross was the most American and the most television genic.”
“What he conjured up freehand in landscapes was too much for most mere mortals, but he made you feel that if you watched closely enough, you could discover all the secrets of wet-on-wet painting in him. The strength of his programs was in his crispy hair, the relaxed style of communication and a joyful belief in the unbridling of art. ”
Wide audience
Added to this is the general public’s interest in Bob Ross. “He still has fans, including a striking number of young people and people for whom the museum does not always have much to offer. We therefore expect this exhibition to also attract visitors who normally do not come so quickly.”
Value
Arno Verkade, director of Christie’s auction house, suspects that Ross’s work is not even terribly valuable. “Objects have to be sold and bought by collectors. That’s hardly the case with Bob Ross’s paintings. He never walked the path of galleries, museums and exhibitions. He painted for the TV show. That was his work.” I think he saw it more as a craft. ”
Verkade explains: “A painting in itself does not have much value. It consists of four slats, canvas and paint. The value arises from the story around it. The way Bob Ross paints is not very special. More people can do this.”
Rare
In addition, his work may be too rare. “Perhaps about a thousand works have resulted from the program. That is not enough to build up a large market. The fact that his work now hangs in a museum may have an influence, but it seems strong to me.”
Yet it may still be that his paintings become valuable in the future. “Banksy managed to do that without the help of exhibitions and museums. So I don’t rule it out with Bob Ross either.”
