#25 • Bob Ross Alaskan Gold Pan Painting c.1971

Part of March 2025 Premier Auction (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $7,100.00

Status: Sold

Category: Art

An original Bob Ross oil painting on velvet on a novelty gold mining pan, created early in his career as shown by the date of 1971 en verso. Ross was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1942 and was stationed at Eielslon Air Force Base outside Fairbanks from 1970 to 1976, where he began painting and selling his gold mining pans depicting traditional snowy Alaskan landscapes of mountains, northern lights, and snowy cabin scenes enhanced with silver glitter. Ross used the 16th-century painting style alla prima, Italian for 'first attempt' or 'wet-on-wet' technique, a method where wet paint is applied on top of wet paint, as seen when he quickly creates thick, almost three-dimensional mountains, lakes, and snow; the technique is prevalent in this painting, where Ross has signed in the lower right. This gold pan, acquired directly from the family who purchased it from Ross, displays an excellent state of preservation compared to works typically available on the market. It measures approximately 16.5" in diameter x 2.25" deep.