More daylight is correlated with higher prices for artwork, according to a team of researchers led by Doron Kliger at the University of Haifa, in Israel. Examining the effect of different environmental conditions on art auction prices in England between 1756 and 1909, and controlling for factors known to be good predictors of art prices (e.g., size of painting, decade of sale, subject and type of art), they found that the amount of daylight from dawn to dusk was positively related to sales price, with art prices increasing up to about a third of a British pound for each additional 1 minute of daylight in some specifications. Selling price was also positively related to day length: a 1-minute increase in the length of day was linked to a £0.26 increase in the selling price. The results suggest that auction participants react to seasons and other weather-related factors that are unrelated to the long-run price of the art they are purchasing, the researchers say.
Source: Seasonal affective disorder and seasoned art auction prices: New evidence from old masters
