--- title: What Happened to All Those Bob Ross Paintings? description: Throughout his career hosting "The Joy of Painting," Bob Ross is estimated to have painted over 1,000 paintings. Where are they now? canonical: https://time.com/5625470/what-happened-to-bob-ross-paintings/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-12T18:33:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:29.719Z og:title: Here's What's Happened to All Those Bob Ross Paintings og:description: Where are all those happy little paintings now? og:url: https://time.com/5625470/what-happened-to-bob-ross-paintings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf406d1c3365f1384/6989ffe68fd2ee56eb35fc78/bobrosspaintings.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: Super 8 When The Art Comes Down Miami Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What's Happened to All Those Bob Ross Paintings twitter:description: Where are all those happy little paintings now? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf406d1c3365f1384/6989ffe68fd2ee56eb35fc78/bobrosspaintings.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What's Happened to All Those Bob Ross Paintings > Sponsored content. 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(Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Super 8) MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 01: Bob Ross instruction setup at When The Art Comes Down Miami Beach hosted by Super 8 on December 1, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Super 8) Robin Marchant—2016 Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 12, 2019 6:33 PM UTC Throughout the course of his 11-year career hosting his PBS show “The Joy of Painting,” [Bob Ross](https://time.com/5025851/deadpool-teaser-bob-ross/) is estimated to have painted [approximately 1,143 paintings](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-work-of-bob-ross/) — three of the same [painting](https://time.com/5457674/painting-auction-records/) per episode. So where are all those paintings now? A recent investigation by the [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/arts/bob-ross-paintings-mystery.html)revealed that the majority of Ross’ paintings are stored at the Virginia headquarters of Bob Ross Inc. under the watchful eye of Ross’ longtime business partner Annette Kowalski and her daughter Joan, the president of the company. Unfortunately for those interested in purchasing one of Ross’ famous oil landscapes, the Kowalskis apparently have no intention of selling them, as that “wasn’t really Bob’s thing.” “It actually has never really occurred to us,” Joan told the _New York Times_ during a video interview. “We’ve never really talked about it.” However, they have donated some of Ross’ paintings to the Smithsonian to be part of a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Ross’ paintings will be featured alongside the work of other American icons like Julia Childs and Mr. Rogers. Ross died on July 4, 1995 at the age of 52 from lymphoma. 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