Artof significant value sell for a comparative pittance at service department sales or other small markets is nothing young . What is new is the recipient of the bargain getting a worthful artefact direct from the hands of the artist . That ’s what happened to Larry Walton , a onetime bush pilot in Alaska who procured a painting at an Anchorage art fair for $ 60 in 1980 . The seller ? ArtistBob Ross , who was presently to debut as the host of PBS’sThe Joy of Paintingin 1983 .
Some 40 days later , Walton received an unexpected $ 10,000 windfall as a resultant of this chance encounter .
Walton buy the artwork , which have a mess and brook underneath thenorthern lights , because the aspect reminded him of his day as a buffer . According to thePost - Bulletinof Minnesota , Walton keep the house painting in ideal conditions over the decades , first inside his nursing home in Crosslake and then in a service department , where it remained protected from sunshine .
The provenance of the picture was n’t discover until of late , when Walton ’s son - in - law , Chris Kovacs , was sieve through their possession for an estate sale . Kovacs thought he recognized it because he had of late get a testimonial from YouTube to catch a video recording about Ross and a northern lights artwork . He did n’t look on the picture , but he remembered the observance and partner with Walton ’s other sons - in - constabulary to enquire further . They find oneself a willing vendee in Ryan Nelson , owner of Modern Artifact art gallery in Minneapolis , which does a brisk business in Ross originals .
Many of Ross’spaintingsare in the self-will of Bob Ross , Inc. , the Virginia company responsible for licensing out the Ross firebrand . The company authenticate the Walton painting , which is currently for sale by Nelson for $ 18,450 oneBay .
[ h / tPost - Bulletin ]
