Glacier landscape change is a common sensitivity indicator of global environmental and climate change. In arid and semiarid climate areas, the glacier landscape will change further due to the intensification of global climate change. To scientifically evaluate the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of glacier landscape pattern, which can provide scientific reference for coping with glacier landscape change and its impact. Based on Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI remote sensing images from 1991 to 2017, the temporal and spatial pattern and change data of glacier landscape in the Yarkant River Basin were obtained by using the supervised classification method. In addition, the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of glacier landscape pattern in the Yarkant River Basin in 1991-2017 were analyzed by means of landscape pattern index, mass center migration and fractal dimension. The results showed that:(1) From 1991 to 2017, the glacier patch area in the Yarkant River Basin showed a decreasing trend, but the melting rate slowed down, with a total reduction of 799.50 km²(-13.09%). The decrease of glacier patch area was mainly concentrated at elevations of 5400-5800 m a.s.l. By contrast, the area below the altitude of 4400 m had the highest retreat rate of glacier patch area, which reached 63.68%. There were differences in glacier landscape reduction rates among different slopes. The retreat rate of glacier landscape on steep slope was the highest (15.98%) and that on sharp steep slope was the lowest (2.87%). Glacier landscape on both shady slope and sunny slope showed a trend of retreat, and the reduction rate of glacier patch area on the sunny slope was significantly higher than that on the shady slope. (2) The number of patches and the largest patch index of the glacier in the Yarkant River Basin have decreased, while the mean shape index, the mean perimeter area ratio and the splitting index have increased. As a result, the glacier landscape has been melting and the degree of fragmentation has increased. (3) During the study period, the centroid of the glacier landscape in the Yarkant River Basin migrated, and the overall trend of northeast migration occurred, indicating that the large patch glaciers were mainly distributed in the northeast and the glacier landscape was decreasing. (4) Based on the fractal theory, we analyzed the spatial structure characteristics of the glacier landscape in the Yarkant River Basin, the results showed that the glacier landscape decline rate decreased slightly, but it was still in a continuous melting state.