Peter Doig’s Coburg 3+1 More (1994) led an impressionist and modern art evening sale at Christie’s London last night, selling for £12.7m ($15.6m).

It dates to the start of Doig’s career, just as he was beginning to make a name for himself as a talented young painter.

Much of Peter Doig's early work is based upon his memories of growing up in Canada

German insurance company Provinzial Rheinland acquired the canvas for an undisclosed sum in 1994.

We can only assume the company has made a significant profit.

Christie’s chairman Francis Outred said: “Back in 1994 when the tendency was for cool conceptual art, Provinzial Rheinland displayed a brave collecting vision by recognising that Peter Doig was developing a new approach to painting which gave new life and energy to the medium.

“Standing in front of this work one is taken to a different world and through the whiteout gradually we see a memory of his childhood home landscape and begin to pick out the silhouettes of Doig himself and his brother.

“Up close the thick texture of snow and staccato brushmarks create a tapestry of paint, the like of which nobody had seen before.”

Mark Rothko’s No.1 (1949) realised £10.7m ($13.1m).

It’s an early work in Rothko’s mature style and was one of the canvases shown at his important 1950 solo show at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York.

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