Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

View of Tide

Yang Yongliang Chinese

Not on view

This composite photograph takes the form of a panoramic handscroll that presents a succession of towering mountains wreathed in mist and surrounded by expanses of open water. But upon closer examination, the majestic mountains are revealed to be composed of countless high-rise apartments and other buildings, while the “trees” are actually power-line towers and construction cranes—the ubiquitous icons of New China. What initially appears to be a pristine image of nature’s grandeur is suddenly exposed as an entirely man-made environment, except for the watery passages comprising images of actual waves and waterfalls. Created through Yang’s distinctive method of “painting” with digital photography, the seemingly harmonious traditional landscape becomes a subtle yet critical response to urbanization.

View of Tide, Yang Yongliang (Chinese, born 1980), Inkjet print, China

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.