Ngựa và Tre

In "Horse and Bamboo," Nguyen Van Minh places the image of a horse amidst a dense bamboo forest, where the straight, slender bamboo stalks create a rhythm that almost completely covers the painting. The horse appears as a solid black mass, but is not entirely detached from the landscape; its body is divided by the bamboo stalks, making its presence both clear and hidden.

The palette of yellow-brown, black, and gray-blue colors gives the work an ancient, solemn feel, while highlighting the shimmering depth of the lacquer material. The contrast between the horse's still posture and the vertical rhythm of the bamboo forest places the viewer in a quiet yet powerful space. Through two familiar images from East Asian culture, the work evokes the encounter between strength and durability, between the free spirit of the horse and the resilient, upright qualities of bamboo.

Created in 2001 and currently housed at the Asian Art Museum in Toulon, France, *Horses and Bamboo* demonstrates Nguyen Van Minh's ability to transform traditional motifs into a concise, symbolic, and poetic visual structure.