Development of "Water" in Chinese Painting of Modern Times and the Contemporary Age

In traditional Chinese painting, "water" is not only the medium for the harmony of brush and ink, but also the object of landscape painting. It is also the best assistant for Chinese painters to create realms with temperament in artistic creation, while "ink painting" of the contemporary age has already broken through the limitations of tradition, and has become a broader cultural concept or even the pronoun of Chinese elements. It incorporates contemporary art in a more conceptual form, and brings the oriental spirit it represents into the art fields of installation art and experimental art. It combines with new materials to make Chinese paintings show infinite new possibilities. In the future artistic creation, "water" will always play an important role. This paper will reinterpret its value in modern and contemporary art from the aspects of material properties and spiritual values of "water".