While art is not the real estate game, the importance of location remains primary. You may want to ask about where an artist shows his or her work before you purchase a work of art. Artists showing in exhibitions in major cities, major museums and galleries, artist colonies, art centers, or cultural environments, more often than not, offer more value to collectors. Also, an artist whose work is consistent, producing good work after good work, helps to increase the value of all of his or her work. It means that the art is usually a sound investment.
Artists dedicated to an established and mature style help to increase the value of their work, too.
A work of an artist's mature period, painted during the mature stage of production for that artist, proves, in some cases, more important and valuable than other works by that artist. For example, it is financially advantageous to own a Renoir that was painted while he was working with Monet at the artist colony of Argenteuil. Renoir, though still painting in the last decade of the 19 th century, was past his Impressionist prime by the 1890s. In terms of value for Renoir's paintings, his mature work or paintings produced during the 1870s consistently bring higher prices than work produced at other times of his career despite the quality of works produced in late career. Fellow collectors and collections impact value.