LONDON, Dec 11: An oil painting by Sir Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II, sold at auction for nearly three times its estimate on Monday, Sotheby's said.

“View of Tinherir”, painted in 1951 during one of his frequent trips to Morocco after the conflict, made 612,000 pounds ($1.2 million) including premium, from an estimate of just 250,000 pounds.

The price tag is a record for a work by Churchill, who was a keen artist.

He gave it to United States General George Marshall, the wartime chief of staff, as a symbol of Anglo-US solidarity in 1953.

The painting remained in the family for three generations and was sold by Marshall's granddaughter, the US actress Kitty Winn.

The previous most expensive Churchill painting sold was “On The Rance, Near St Malo”, which fetched 344,000 pounds at Christie's in June last year, a Sotheby's spokesman said.

Winston Churchill visited Marrakesh frequently to write his war memoirs and to paint.

In a letter accompanying the painting to Gen Marshall, he wrote: “I send you herewith the picture I mentioned to you and your wife the other day.“It was painted in January 1951 at a place called Tinherir”.

In reply the US general's wife said: “My dear Sir Winston, Yesterday was a gala day for me, for we hung your painting. It has added so much to the beauty of our drawing-room and has the place of honour.”—AFP