Wender·Vista
Manaus
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileBrazil
deep in the Amazon, where the Rio Negro meets the Solimões

Manaus

— — a city the river built and the forest keeps reclaiming.

— 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

“The capital of Amazonas state, about fifteen hundred kilometres up the Amazon from the Atlantic. Built by rubber money at the turn of the twentieth century, abandoned by it within a generation, the city kept its Belle Époque opera house and its port and grew into a metropolis of two million. The dark Rio Negro meets the pale Solimões just downstream, the two rivers running side by side without mixing.

from the studio
Manaus
— bring it home

Manaus, 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 Manaus

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

Manaus is the capital of Amazonas state in northwestern Brazil, on the left bank of the Rio Negro about thirteen kilometres upstream from its confluence with the Rio Solimões. The 2022 census recorded a metropolitan population of about 2.06 million, making it the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon. It is reached almost entirely by river or by air; the BR-319 highway south to Porto Velho is largely impassable during the wet season. Eduardo Gomes International Airport handles inbound flights from São Paulo, Brasília, Miami, and Panama City.

— informed by Wikipedia, IBGE Cidades
— the water

The Encontro das Águas, the Meeting of the Waters, runs for about six kilometres below the city, where the cool, dark, acidic Rio Negro flows alongside the warmer, paler, sediment-rich Solimões without mixing. The two waters differ in temperature, density, and speed; below the confluence they form the main stem of the Amazon. Boat tours leave from the Manaus Moderna port at the foot of the old market. The phenomenon was documented by Alexander von Humboldt in 1800 and remains one of the river system's signature sights.

— the stone

The Teatro Amazonas, the opera house on Largo de São Sebastião, is the city's enduring monument. Designed by Italian architect Celestino Sacchetti and inaugurated in 1896 at the height of the rubber boom, it carries a dome of thirty-six thousand ceramic tiles in the colours of the Brazilian flag, imported from Alsace. Its season runs from April through June each year as the Festival Amazonas de Ópera. The Mercado Adolpho Lisboa on the riverfront, opened in 1883, copies Les Halles in Paris in cast iron shipped across the Atlantic.

— where
Brazil · Manaus, Amazonas
— elevation
92 m · 302 ft
— position
-3.1190° S · 60.0217° W
— 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.
13 km SE
Encontro das Águas
river confluence
at the lake
Teatro Amazonas
opera house
150 km NW
Anavilhanas archipelago
Rio Negro islands
120 km N
Presidente Figueiredo
waterfalls and caves
N
Manaus
Encontro das Águas
Teatro Amazonas
Anavilhanas archipelago
Presidente Figueiredo
— common questions

What people ask.

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

On the left bank of the Rio Negro in northwestern Brazil, about thirteen kilometres upstream of its confluence with the Solimões. It is the capital of Amazonas state and the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon, with about two million residents.

Almost entirely by air or by river. Eduardo Gomes International Airport takes flights from São Paulo, Brasília, Miami, and Panama City. The BR-319 highway south to Porto Velho is largely impassable during the wet season.

The Encontro das Águas. About six kilometres below Manaus, the dark Rio Negro and the pale Solimões flow side by side without mixing because of differences in temperature, density, and speed. They form the main Amazon below.

The opera house at Largo de São Sebastião, opened in 1896 during the rubber boom. Designed by Celestino Sacchetti, its tiled dome carries the colours of the Brazilian flag. It hosts the Festival Amazonas de Ópera each spring.

The Portuguese fort of São José da Barra do Rio Negro was built in 1669; the settlement was renamed Manaus in 1856 after the Manaós, an indigenous people of the Rio Negro. The rubber boom transformed it after 1880.

— about the piece in your home

It has gone to customers from Manaus, from Belém, and from the wider Brazilian and lusophone diaspora. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well, as does a Coaster Set.

Tropical-modern and biophilic interiors with rattan, dark wood, and deep greens. Also at home in Brazilian Modernist rooms (concrete, jacaranda, raw cotton) where the river-and-forest palette already runs through the space.

Yes. The river-and-forest palette reads as quiet depth against off-white walls, terracotta tile, and woven natural fibre. A single Large or a 4-tile Mural anchors a biophilic wall without competing with the live plants around it.

A single Large reads from across the room; a 4-tile Mural fills a standard sofa width; a 9-tile Mural carries a long console or a stair landing. For a desk or shelf, the Small or Keepsake reads well.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and splash will not affect it. The satin finish also resists scratches in humid rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is all you need. No abrasives, no ammonia-based cleaners, no scouring pads. The colour lives in the surface beneath a thin glossy finish and will not fade or scratch under normal household use.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, painted by Reid Wender and produced in-house in Knoxville, Tennessee. No third-party licensing and no stock photography is involved at any stage of production.

— if this one stayed with you

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