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Interesting that there’s no discussion of forgeries? I feel like with Bob Ross paintings they’re the perfect target for forgeries. No one knows how many real pa

by vxNsr 6y ago

Interesting that there’s no discussion of forgeries? I feel like with Bob Ross paintings they’re the perfect target for forgeries. No one knows how many real paintings exist, anyone can copy them by just watching a video and as long as you practice the signature a bit yours is indistinguishable from the original.

amelius 6y ago
There is a program where anyone can become a certified Bob Ross instructor [0]. So I suppose forgery might be just around the corner. [0] https://experience.bobross.com/cri-classes/ https://experience.bobross.com/cri-classes/
fredophile 6y ago
That shouldn't be a problem. It seems like all the Bob Ross paintings are owned by a very small group. If you buy a Bob Ross painting and the provenance doesn't include any of those people you probably have a forgery.
- vxNsr 6y ago
  I don't think that's true based on the article: they say that he sold 1000s of paintings in flea markets as well as before he became famous, those owners may not know they own a bob ross but the paintings exist and thus there's a plausible explanation for the forgery.
  - fredophile 6y ago
    My mistake. I only skimmed the article since it was similar to a video I'd seen recently on the topic [0]. If they mentioned the flea markets in the video I forgot that detail. [0] https://youtu.be/rDs3o1uLEdU https://youtu.be/rDs3o1uLEdU
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  "If you buy a Bob Ross painting and the provenance doesn't include any of those people you probably have a forgery." But are the buyers of his paintings actually checking, and do those who are buying just to flip even care as long as they can quickly pawn it off to the bigger sucker?
- gwern 6y ago
  No, the sources are horrible. You can easily fake up any number of Bob Rosses and simply say, "ah yes, I discovered another one of the tens of thousands of Bob Rosses which he sold as a young man or whipped out in a charity event in a small podunk place, and the original owners prefer anonymity". In terms of provenance, the sheer number, blandness, and indiscriminate original distribution of paintings makes it sound like a nightmare. If the market were more developed, so selling Rosses wasn't so unusual, I bet forgery would become a much bigger problem (although you wouldn't be able to tell if done somewhat competently - how hard would it be to get paintings and canvases from the '80s and defeat pretty much every possible forensics? that was not long ago at all... We're not talking trying to forge Renaissance masters here.)
johannes1234321 6y ago
There are about 117 pictures which are created in the TV series, which are probably the expensive ones. If one appears as a duplicate the original cna probably be undercover es realtively easily.
- mattowen_uk 6y ago
  Bob drew 3 copies of every painting you see in The Joy of Painting. The first one is a rough one to get the composition right. The second one is the 'proper' one, and the third one is the one you see him do on TV. The 'proper' one, the second, was used as a reference during the taping of the show, and was off camera but in Bob's eyeline. As such, there are NO 'happy little accidents'. Every stroke you saw Bob do was intentional and designed to show you more techniques. As others have said, it was more about the teaching of a skill, than the actual paintings. Source: I have watched way too many Bob Ross documentaries.

by vxNsr 6y ago

amelius 6y ago

There is a program where anyone can become a certified Bob Ross instructor [0]. So I suppose forgery might be just around the corner. [0] https://experience.bobross.com/cri-classes/ https://experience.bobross.com/cri-classes/

fredophile 6y ago

That shouldn't be a problem. It seems like all the Bob Ross paintings are owned by a very small group. If you buy a Bob Ross painting and the provenance doesn't include any of those people you probably have a forgery.

vxNsr 6y ago
I don't think that's true based on the article: they say that he sold 1000s of paintings in flea markets as well as before he became famous, those owners may not know they own a bob ross but the paintings exist and thus there's a plausible explanation for the forgery.
- fredophile 6y ago
  My mistake. I only skimmed the article since it was similar to a video I'd seen recently on the topic [0]. If they mentioned the flea markets in the video I forgot that detail. [0] https://youtu.be/rDs3o1uLEdU https://youtu.be/rDs3o1uLEdU
pmoriarty 6y ago
"If you buy a Bob Ross painting and the provenance doesn't include any of those people you probably have a forgery." But are the buyers of his paintings actually checking, and do those who are buying just to flip even care as long as they can quickly pawn it off to the bigger sucker?
gwern 6y ago
No, the sources are horrible. You can easily fake up any number of Bob Rosses and simply say, "ah yes, I discovered another one of the tens of thousands of Bob Rosses which he sold as a young man or whipped out in a charity event in a small podunk place, and the original owners prefer anonymity". In terms of provenance, the sheer number, blandness, and indiscriminate original distribution of paintings makes it sound like a nightmare. If the market were more developed, so selling Rosses wasn't so unusual, I bet forgery would become a much bigger problem (although you wouldn't be able to tell if done somewhat competently - how hard would it be to get paintings and canvases from the '80s and defeat pretty much every possible forensics? that was not long ago at all... We're not talking trying to forge Renaissance masters here.)

johannes1234321 6y ago

There are about 117 pictures which are created in the TV series, which are probably the expensive ones. If one appears as a duplicate the original cna probably be undercover es realtively easily.

mattowen_uk 6y ago
Bob drew 3 copies of every painting you see in The Joy of Painting. The first one is a rough one to get the composition right. The second one is the 'proper' one, and the third one is the one you see him do on TV. The 'proper' one, the second, was used as a reference during the taping of the show, and was off camera but in Bob's eyeline. As such, there are NO 'happy little accidents'. Every stroke you saw Bob do was intentional and designed to show you more techniques. As others have said, it was more about the teaching of a skill, than the actual paintings. Source: I have watched way too many Bob Ross documentaries.