Wender·Vista
Vitebsk
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileBelarus
on the Western Dvina, in the north of Belarus

Vitebsk

— — the town Chagall could not stop painting.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city on the Western Dvina in the north of Belarus, at the confluence with the little Vitba that gave it its name. Marc Chagall was born here in 1887, in a wooden house in the Pokrovskaya Street district, and went on painting Vitebsk — the green roofs, the river, the goats over the rooftops — for the rest of his life. The Slavianski Bazaar festival fills the streets each July. — from the studio

from the studio
Vitebsk
— bring it home

Vitebsk, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Vitebsk

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Vitebsk is a city of about 360,000 in northern Belarus, on the Western Dvina River close to the borders with Russia and Latvia. It is the centre of Vitebsk Region and the country's fourth-largest city. The settlement is named for the small Vitba River, which joins the Dvina inside the town. Vitebsk is among the oldest cities of the eastern Slavs; the Primary Chronicle places its founding by Princess Olga of Kiev in 974, though archaeology extends occupation of the site further into the early medieval period.

— informed by Wikipedia — Vitebsk
— the visit

The Marc Chagall House Museum at 11 Pokrovskaya Street occupies the wooden home where the painter spent his childhood. It opened in 1997 and shows family photographs, period objects, and reproductions of works that depict the house and the neighbourhood. A separate Chagall Art Centre on Putna Street displays original lithographs and etchings. Chagall left Vitebsk in 1907 to study in Saint Petersburg and Paris, returned briefly to found the People's Art School in 1918, and never lived in the city again.

— the year

The Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk is an international arts festival held each July since 1992, with concerts of Slavic music in the open-air amphitheatre on the Western Dvina, a vocalist competition, and a children's programme. The event was launched as a Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian gathering and remains the city's largest annual draw. Otherwise winters in Vitebsk are long and cold; January averages run near minus eight degrees Celsius, and the Dvina freezes most years. The white nights of late June soften the evenings.

— where
Belarus · Vitebsk Region
— position
55.1904° N · 30.2049° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
100 km W
Polotsk
city
120 km E
Smolensk
city
N
Vitebsk
Polotsk
Smolensk
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Vitebsk — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Vitebsk sits on the Western Dvina River in northern Belarus, near the borders with Russia and Latvia. It is the centre of Vitebsk Region and the country's fourth-largest city.

Chagall was born in Vitebsk in 1887 and lived there until 1907. He returned in 1918 to found the People's Art School. His childhood home is preserved as a museum on Pokrovskaya Street.

The Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk is an international arts festival held each July since 1992. It features open-air Slavic music concerts on the Western Dvina, a vocalist competition, and a children's programme.

The Primary Chronicle places the founding of Vitebsk by Princess Olga of Kiev in 974. Archaeology extends settlement of the site further into the early medieval period, well before the chronicle date.

The Western Dvina runs through Vitebsk on its way from the Valdai Hills to the Baltic at Riga. The smaller Vitba River joins the Dvina inside the city and gives Vitebsk its name.

Late June through early September. Winters are long, with January averages near minus eight degrees Celsius and the Dvina frozen most years. The Slavianski Bazaar week in mid-July is the busiest.

— about the piece in your home

It carries for people with roots in the city and for collectors of Chagall. The piece reads as the river and the wooden town rather than the painter's work. A Medium or Small travels well.

The piece sits well with Eastern European folk-modern, jewel-tone maximalist, and quiet bohemian rooms. The palette of green roof, river slate, and warm ochre moves with old wood, embroidered linen, and brass.

The Vitebsk palette — emerald, river blue, ochre, dim gold — sits cleanly inside jewel-tone maximalist and folk-modern rooms. A Small reads above a writing desk; a Large carries a quiet wall behind a sofa.

A single Large is the standard piece above a sofa. A 4-tile Mural opens a wider wall; a 9-tile Mural carries a long entry wall or a corridor behind a console table.

Yes, on the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist scratching and humidity and install well as a backsplash, on a vanity wall, or inside a shower surround.

A microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface, so the tile cleans like a plate. Skip abrasive pads and ammonia-based sprays.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, curated by Reid Wender. We don't license outside imagery, and each place enters the atlas as a single, considered painting.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.