Churchill painting fetches 1.2 million

London, Dec 12: A painting by British wartime leader, Winston Churchill, has been sold for $1.2 million at an auction, which set a new record for the part-time artist and around three times the pre-sale estimate.

''View of Tinherir'' was painted in 1951 in Marrakech, Morocco, and given two years later to US General George Marshall.

According to Sotheby's, which sold the work in London, it has remained in the Marshall family ever since and its existence was unknown to experts until recently.

It was sold by award-winning actress Kitty Winn, a descendant of Marshall's. It was expected to fetch 150-250,000 pounds.

According to Sotheby's, the previous auction record for a Churchill painting was 344,000 pounds for ''On the Rance, Near St. Malo'' set in 2005.

The identity of the successful telephone bidder was not immediately known.

REUTERS