Churchill painting of Miami Beach sold for £192k at auction
A picture painted by Sir Winston Churchill on his first holiday after World War Two has been sold for £192,000 at auction.
The oil painting shows a view from Miami Beach in Florida and was painted in 1946 when the former prime minister was in the United States.
It was sold by Boningtons Auctioneers in Epping, Essex, to a UK buyer who did not want to be identified.
A second Churchill painting did not reach its £600,000 guide price.
Luke Bodalbhai, head of Boningtons' fine art department, said he hoped the picture of the pyramids at Giza in Egypt would be sold quickly after the auction.
He said the Miami painting was very popular because Churchill was half-American, as well as because "it's a cracking scene".
It was painted at the Miami Beach home of Canadian industrialist Col Frank W Clarke and Churchill was photographed with the half-finished painting.
He later gave the painting as a gift to Col Clarke and his wife, but some years ago it was acquired at auction by a private collector.