A Tracey Emin painting about her recovery from cancer has sold at auction for a staggering £2.3 million - a record for the Kent artist.

Like a Cloud of Blood went under the hammer tonight and was expected to sell for about £700,000, but was snapped up for more than three times the guide price.

World-renowned auction house Christie's revealed the artwork fetched £2,322,000 - an amount higher than for any other painting by the 59-year-old.

It was created by Emin as an "emotional release" after she was unable to paint for a year during her battle with bladder cancer.

Emin - who announced she was in remission last month - previously said of the painting: “I loved it and I thought I’d keep it for ever.”

But she ultimately decided to sell, and will plough the proceeds into TKE Studios - her new art school and artists’ centre in Margate.

The pioneering complex will provide 12 subsidised professional art studios, a rigorous exhibition cycle and two-year residencies for 15-20 students, with free workspace, tutorials and lectures.

Emin, who grew up in the town, has already spent £2 million buying and refurbishing the former Edwardian bathhouse, mortuary and children’s nursery in Dane Road and Victoria Road.

There will be no charge to students for tuition or studio space, but they will have to fund their living expenses.

Emin said previously: "When I was ill, and I thought I was going to die, I thought: what am I here for, what’s it all about? If one person here makes it as an artist, then I’ve done my job.”

Emin returned to live in Margate in 2017 and works from her own studios close to the TKE Studios.

“I came back to Margate as a different person, and I came back to a different Margate. Everybody here gives me space, there’s nothing pretentious here.”

While £2.3 million is a record for an Emin painting, it's not the most a piece of her artwork has sold for.

Her most famous work, My Bed, was snapped up at auction in 2014 for £2,546,500.