The chill winds finally seem to be hitting the market for contemporary art. The Dawnay Day administrators at BDO Stoy Hayward may have managed to sell two paintings formerly owned by Guy Naggar and Peter Klimt in the nick of time.

Their auction preceded the sale of the painting of Francis Bacon by Lucian Freud, expected to fetch between £5m and £7m but selling at the lower end of the range at £5.4m at the Christie's auction at the weekend.