Below are some interesting results based on a recent Washington State University study on auction house sales of works by Picasso, Margritte, Munch and other impressionist and modern masters. Arzu Aysin Tekindor used a data set of 1,100 paintings auctioned from 1998 to 2011 as his modeling system.

• Winning bidders paid more for works showing the artist’s usual subject matter and signature painting style.
• Buyers value subject matter over style.
• If the work was given as a gift to someone, it decreases its price by 29 percent per incident.
• The size of the work does not matter but rather the age of the artist does. There is a 5.2 percent increase to the price per year of the artist age.
• The popularity of the artist on Google corresponds to the price increase of the artist.

To read more findings, please visit: www.psmag.com