Churchill Record

Yesterday Sir Winston Churchill's The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell (1932) fetched a record-breaking price at Sotheby's auction in London. It had been estimated at £400,000 to £600,000, but in the event it sold for almost £1.8 million. Undoubtedly one of his best paintings, it was accepted for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in 1948. If memory serves me correctly, the fishes are golden orfe (Leuciscus idus), not common goldfish. The sale raised £15.4 million for the estate of Mary Soames, who died this year (CLICK).