This season’s art auction sales held up. But there are ominous signs. “The law of diminishing returns suggests we are coming to the end of the back-toback, buy-to-sell cycle. The best of the “turning” and profit-taking has gone, and the contemporary collectors have stocked up on the prizes they missed first time round. This does not produce the growth the market needs. Not only are we looking for a new generation of artists, we’re desperate for a new wave of collectors.”