Considered to be one of his finest works, 'Birth' by famed Indian artist Francis Newton Souza sold for a record $4.08 million (with buyer's premium) at Christie's New York on Sept. 17. The price set the record both for the artist and for any Indian painting. The sale total came to $8.7 million for South Asian Modern and Contemporary art.

“Francis Newton Souza’s (1924-2002) epic work ‘Birth’ held the previous world auction record price for a work by the artist - set at Christie’s in 2008 for $2.5 million. The latest record is an increase of 63 per cent, establishing the new world auction record for the artist at $4.08 million,” Christie’s said in a statement.

A monumental 8 feet by 4 feet, ‘Birth’ was sold by Tina Ambani's Harmony Arts Foundation. It was on loan to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. The buyer was Indian collector Kiran Nada, according to Newsweek.