Wender·Vista
Surgut
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileRussia
on the middle Ob, deep in western Siberia

Surgut

— the city the oil built on the permafrost edge.

— 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 of around four hundred thousand on the Ob River in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, western Siberia. Founded as a Cossack fort in 1594, it stayed small until the discovery of the Samotlor and Fyodorovskoye oil fields in the 1960s turned it into one of Russia's largest hydrocarbon hubs. Winter daytime highs sit below freezing for six months of the year.

from the studio
Surgut
— bring it home

Surgut, 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 Surgut

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

Surgut sits on the right bank of the Ob River in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Tyumen Oblast, in western Siberia, with a 2021 population near 388 thousand. It was founded as a Cossack stockade in 1594 to extract fur tribute from the Khanty and Mansi peoples and remained a small settlement of a few thousand until the postwar oil discoveries. The Surgut Bridge across the Ob, completed in 2000, carries the only year-round road crossing for hundreds of kilometres in either direction.

— informed by Wikipedia — Surgut
— the air

The climate is sharply subarctic. January means run near minus 19 Celsius and the recorded extreme is below minus 55. Snow cover holds from late October into April, and the surrounding taiga and bog freeze into a passable winter landscape. The summers are brief and warm enough for mosquitoes off the bog, with July means around 18 Celsius. The Ob, more than three kilometres wide at Surgut in flood, breaks up in May and runs open through October.

— the water

The Ob is the defining feature of the city. The river runs roughly 3,650 kilometres from the Altai Mountains to the Kara Sea, and at Surgut it spreads across a floodplain several kilometres wide. Before the bridge opened in 2000, winter crossings depended on the ice road and summer crossings on ferries; the bridge holds a main span of 408 metres on a single A-frame pylon. The Surgut GRES-2 power station, on the river south of the city, is among the largest gas-fired stations in the world.

— where
Russia · Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen Oblast
— elevation
40 m · 131 ft
— position
61.2500° N · 73.4300° 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.
250 km W
Khanty-Mansiysk
okrug capital
220 km E
Nizhnevartovsk
oil city
700 km SW
Tyumen
oblast capital
N
Surgut
Khanty-Mansiysk
Nizhnevartovsk
Tyumen
— common questions

What people ask.

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

In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Tyumen Oblast, in western Siberia, on the Ob River. It lies roughly 2,150 kilometres east of Moscow by rail.

In 1594, as a Russian Cossack stockade established to collect fur tribute from the Khanty and Mansi peoples. It was among the earliest Russian outposts in Siberia.

The discovery of the Samotlor and Fyodorovskoye oil fields in the 1960s turned it into a hub for Soviet and later Russian oil and gas extraction. It now has around 388 thousand residents.

Mean January temperatures sit near minus 19 Celsius, with extremes below minus 55. Snow cover usually holds from late October into April, and the Ob freezes solid through the winter.

A cable-stayed bridge across the Ob, completed in 2000, with a 408-metre main span on a single A-frame pylon. It is the only year-round road crossing for hundreds of kilometres.

— about the piece in your home

It has been. The piece carries the cold-river palette and the bridge silhouette that locals recognise. A framed Medium with a handwritten note from the studio travels well.

The icy blues and bog-greens suit Minimalist, Scandinavian, and modern industrial rooms. The piece reads quiet on a pale wall and holds its own next to darker woods.

A single Large covers most three-seat sofas. A four-tile Mural reads at full scale on a long wall; a nine-tile Mural belongs over a console at gallery height.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for wet rooms and vertical installations. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and will not lift over time.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. Skip ammonia and abrasive sprays. The Dura Satin and Matte finishes are scratch-resistant; gentle handling still helps the finish last.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in-house at our Knoxville studio under Reid's eye and hand-finished here. We do not license imagery from outside the studio.

— if this one stayed with you

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