In art, big names get the big bucks

As the art world gears up for New York’s spring art auctions, ARTnews magazine’s May issue -- devoted to money -- offers clues to the mysteries of pricing the priceless.

The artist’s name means a lot, the magazine says, ticking off “the 10 most expensive living artists.” Jasper Johns is first, followed by Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Brice Marden, Bruce Nauman, Lucien Freud, Richard Serra, Frank Stella and Jeff Koons -- in uncertain order, based on auction records and unverified private sales.

Subject matter, composition and color also are important factors in establishing an artwork’s value, the magazine says. An article titled “Why 15 Apples Are Better Than 3” claims that the market prefers Cezanne’s trademark apples to his paintings of other fruit. And in the eyes of buyers, the more apples the better.

In portraiture, collectors pay more for likenesses of attractive young women than for portraits of older men or women. Buyers prefer nudity to modesty. Horizontal works are more popular than verticals. And brightly colored paintings command higher prices than pale ones.

As for landscapes: Water is in, cows are out.