如何为无形的“水”做肖像画？在中国美术史上，这算得上是一个“空前绝后”的主题。而宋代画家马远通过自身对水的细致观察，运用不同技法，将水的数种自然样态精准描摹，用十二幅画面凝练世间江河湖海，完成了一曲对“水”的颂歌。
中央广播电视总台大型文化节目《诗画中国》，将画卷设置于水下，水波流动中，表演者们以舞为画笔，完美勾勒出画中柔波潋滟的诗情与巨浪滔天的声势，为观众带来一场绝妙的艺术盛宴。
《水图》现收藏于北京故宫博物院，它尽显水态之妙，被视为“前无古人后无来者”的旷世之作，《水图》的创作也被看作是中国山水中“水”形象的转折点。马远在《水图》中一共刻画了12种不同形态的水，他的笔法因时、因地、因景而异，呈现出不同季节与气候之下水所表现出的特点。例如“云生沧海”中的水，马远用笔强劲，线条粗细不一，墨色浓淡相间，突出海浪涌动时的弹性与流畅。“云舒浪卷”中，马远则使用了他擅长的“颤笔”，以时断时连的凝涩笔触画出浪头的汹涌咆哮。在“秋水回波”一幅中，马远又使用了“双钩法”，使水的波纹有如流动的瓦片，又像层叠的鱼鳞。
中国山水画中，山与水常是不可分割的主题，但马远却立意新奇，以小见大、绘微见著。他在画法上似百科全书般细致写实，又潇洒传神，正如拖尾李东阳跋文所言，“真活水也”。而这“活水”不仅代表作家传神的画技，将水之动态刻画备至，也代表了马远在画中似赋予水以生命，以情绪，以人格，水“善利万物而不争”的雅量、“奔流到海不复回”的壮阔、“湖光潋滟晴偏好”的宁静……在凝视观摩这幅画卷时，水的意趣与品格，似乎都能静静地流淌到观众的心中。
除了欣赏“真活水”，在《水图》中还能看到一种期盼山河一体、宣扬气节抱持的个人情感。在十二段画题里，有明确地域归属的是“黄河逆流”、“长江万顷”和“洞庭风细”三幅。作为南宋画家，马远祖籍虽在河中（今山西运城一带），却是土生土长的杭州人。南宋时，河中已沦陷于金国境内，这幅“黄河逆流”令观者很自然地联想到画家马远对故土的追思与留念。北京师范大学副校长康震教授点评道，《水图》于马远来说，既是他凝聚技术与美学思想的画作，也是寄托内心家国情怀、民族信念的画作。
水伴随中华文化流淌千年，它早已超越了其单纯的物质性而具有了丰富的精神内涵。马远的《水图》篇幅虽小，却在每幅图中把水的姿态表现得生动传神，在寥寥几笔中勾勒出水的动态与意境。马远独树一帜的绘画技法给后人提供了宝贵的经验，而《水图》中传达的水之精神，也将伴随千年不变的山川与河流，继续流淌在中华民族的文化血脉之中。
How should a portrait of water be painted? This special theme has rarely been touched upon, despite the timeless nature of water movement and its complex symbolism. Unlike artists who only see water as an element in landscape painting, Ma Yuan, an influential Song Dynasty (960-1276) painter who excelled in this genre, devoted his masterpiece "Water Studies" to studying the texture and movement of water. His work has been hailed as one of the greatest artistic expressions of water ever created.Through the innovative expression of underwater dance, the program "China in Poetry and Painting" by China Media Group places the scrolls underwater, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the artistic water world of Ma.Now housed at the Palace Museum, each of the 12 paintings is inscribed with a four-character title, except for the first, which loses its title strip. Ma's brushwork varies according to time, place and landscape, vividly presenting the features of water in different seasons and climates, arguably rendering his "Water Studies" as the most exquisite pictorial study of water recorded on canvas.As in "Clouds Rising from the Limitless Sea," Ma concentrated on the waves leaping in the sea, applying bold brushstrokes, undulating lines, breadths, and varying shades of ink to capture the elastic texture and continuous movement of the waves. In "Clouds Unfurling and Waves Rolling up," he captured the dynamic of the rising waves that seem to roar like a beast with his trembling strokes. And in the "Morning Sun Shines upon the Mountain," with a few swift brushstrokes, the ripples resemble the hills in the distance, depicting a harmonious and serene scene at sunrise. A Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) poet inscribed the following words on the painting: "Ma Yuan has truly brought the water to life." In "Water Studies," Ma not only transforms the static body of water into an animated state but also endows water with life, emotion and personality. The painting evokes the peaceful, vibrant and tenacious nature of water through its portrayal of the rippling lake and the rushing flow of the leaping waves.In the opinion of Kang Zhen, a professor at Beijing Normal University, "Water Studies" also reflects Ma's affection for his hometown. Although Ma grew up in Hangzhou, his ancestors lived in north China's Shanxi for generations until the Song Dynasty lost control of its traditional heartland around the Yellow River and was forced to retreat to southern China. By the time Ma painted "Water Studies," his homeland had already fallen to the frontier of the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty. "Counter-Currents in the Yellow River" in "Water Studies" depicts a landscape from Shanxi, reminding the viewer of the artist's nostalgia for his hometown."The wise find pleasure in water," said Confucius. "The highest good is like water," said Lao Zi. These words from two of the most famous philosophers in Chinese history show the ancient Chinese literati's deep reverence for water and all that it symbolizes. Perfectly integrating his profound insights and exquisite painting techniques, Ma's "Water Studies" blazed a new trail in exploring water as a theme in Chinese landscape painting. Since then, water has increasingly been viewed as a more important subject in landscape painting, appearing in many famous paintings throughout history.
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