Noctural Melody 21 (Mélodie Nocturne 21) is an artwork by Chinese contemporary artist Hongyu Zhang from the “Nocturnal Melody” series.

This night scene is of a group of horses emerging out from a dark background. The horses seem to be looking towards the viewer. In this series’ of medium-sized paintings, that the artist initially entitled: ‘Souvenirs’ (‘Memories’), Zhang Hongyu draws from his childhood visions on the plains of Inner Mongolia, where the silence and darkness of the night were disrupted only by the appearance of the horses and their galloping noise.

With a great minimal use of colour and an impressive technical brilliance, Hongyu Zhang manages to capture the fleeting beauty of this apparition. Through engraving, he sketches out the silhouette of the beast, carving out the canvas surface (a cardboard panel). This method - a legacy from his traditional Chinese calligraphy training - is the fundamental part of his art: he uses it to give both energy and elegance to the galloping horses. The artist then applies colour using different techniques: ink, pastel and acrylic paint. Blue lifts out the lines and certain volumes. These nervous stokes contrast with the darkness of the background, accentuating the dramatic atmosphere of this contemporary artwork. The artist also uses a silverly ink with shiny reflections.

This artwork is signed, sold framed (grey shadow box).

DImensions of the framed artwork: 135 x 102 cm