Gaiety on the Grassland, by Huang Zhou. Photo provided to China Daily

A large ink and color painting by noted artist Huang Zhou (1925-1997) fetched 128.8 million yuan ($21.14 million) Monday night in Beijing, smashing his previous auction record.

The painting, titled Gaiety on the Grassland, was made in 1981 and pictures a lively scene involving "wrestling on horseback," a traditional sporting event of the Kirgiz people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The work depicts seven women riders, nine dogs and more than 70 horses along a canvas that stretches 3.6 meters wide.

The painting stirred up a heated and long bidding race at the Beijing Poly International Auction Company's autumn auction. Zhao Xu, Poly Auction's chairman, revealed that the buyer is an entrepreneur from South China who collects modern Chinese and contemporary ink paintings.

"Huang Zhou's works had long been devalued by the market. This record-breaking work will give a boost to the prices of Huang's other top pieces," he said after the sale.