Does size really matter?

I picked up the painting from Sotheby's this morning. While I was there, Geoffrey Cassidy, the Deputy Directory came out to have a look at it. He agreed that if it was a Drysdale that it was probably early 1940's. He mentioned that the size was about the right size for what he was painting at the time, which reminded me that I had seen another Drysdale painting in an auction catalogue that was exactly the same size. I mentioned that to Geoffrey, who thought that was interesting.

When I got home this evening I found a reference to the painting that was the same size. It was a portrait of a girl (Drysdale's daughter, Lynn). It was listed as being 50x39.5, whereas the exact size of my painting is closer to 51x39.5. Still, fairly close. It will be interesting to research if any of his other paintings are this size, and then to see if this is a common partical board size for any other artists of the time.