A student from Houston has struck it rich following a rodeo art auction in the US.

17-year-old Komal Agarwal's colour pencil depiction of a man on horseback achieved $205,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's School Art Auction on Sunday, March 13 reports the Houston Chronicle.

The artwork, which was bought by a bidding team of four buyers, took around 300 hours to complete. The artist will receive $30,000.

"Since I was a kid I always came to the rodeo," said Agarwal.

"I saw the art galleries and loved how realistic they were. I've always wanted to be part of the art auction."

The art auction is now in its sixteenth year and offers a more genteel side to the generally rough and ready Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Life on the range: a popular genre for collectors

This sale demonstrates the continued love of collectors and investors for depictions of ranch life and memorabilia connected with the West.

Untitled (Cowboy), a photographic work portraying the Marlboro Man on horseback, produced in 1989 by Richard Prince, sold for $1.25 million at Christie's New York in November 2005.