Turner watercolours sell for £10m

Turner's view of Venice had been expected to fetch £1.2m

A collection of JMW Turner watercolours described as "one of the finest to have come on the market in living memory" has been auctioned for £10.6m.

One of the paintings - Venice: Looking towards the Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore - fetched £2.9m, more than twice what had been expected.

The most expensive painting was Lungernsee, a view of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, which sold for £3.6m.

Two of the 14 Turners in the London sale did not meet their reserve price.

The paintings had been the property of Baron Guy Ullens, a Belgian businessman who has been collecting Turners for 20 years.

'Difficult' decision

"The decision to part with the Turner watercolours was a difficult one," he said.

"But parting with these wonderful works has been made easier because of the knowledge that they will now be enjoyed by other collectors."

Last year, Turner's The Blue Rigi was sold for £5.83m - a record for a British watercolour.

Another record was set at Wednesday's sale when Velazquez's Santa Rufina was purchased for £8.4m - the highest price ever paid for a Spanish Old Master painting at auction.