Indian Original Artwork Francis Newton Souza (April 12, 1924 - March 28, 2002), still life with empty wine bottle, bowl of fruit and two wooden spoons, oil on canvas approx 36x25mm, matted for framing. Signed ‘Souza 52’ to top right hand corner. A rare opportunity to obtain an original oil from one of India’s most sought after modern artists. Souza’s expressionist style which, according to the Time of India sought to illustrate both low-life and high energy, ‘Be it the sluts or the suits, the seamy side of life or the steamy, the gnomish, pox-scarred boy from Goa who went on to become one of the first Indian artists to be feted in the salons of Europe, laid it bare’ made Souza perhaps the first modern Indian artist to attract major attention in the west. In 2008 his painting Birth (1955) set a world auction record for the most expensive Indian painting sold till then by selling for $2.5 million.