Timothy C. Tyler American Realist Painter in San Miguel de Allende
Proud Member of:
"Tack Room" Gold Medal Exhibition CAC 2026
American realist painter Timothy C. Tyler is one of the most widely honored American realist painters working in Mexico today, with work in a European museum and two of America’s most distinguished private collections: the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Alice Walton, founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Amon Carter III of Fort Worth.
Oriental Orchids
Market of Light, La Luz Saturday
Timothy C. Tyler’s work is in the permanent collection of the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, has won three Purchase Awards from the Art Renewal Center, and is held in the private collections of Alice Walton, founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Amon Carter III of Fort Worth. His paintings have been exhibited at museums across the United States, including the Gilcrease Museum, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Bowers Museum and the C. M. Russell Museum. In a career of more than fifty years, he has also won top national honors from Allied Artists of America and Oil Painters of America. His gallery in San Miguel de Allende shows his original oil paintings: still lifes, figures, European cities and scenes of Mexico.
The Work
Tyler paints in the representational tradition of John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla, Nicolai Fechin, Jean-Léon Gérôme and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. His aim is a strong painting rather than an exact copy of what the eye or camera records. He builds each picture on design, on deliberate composition, carefully tuned color and the movement of light, and finishes it with a craftsman’s discipline.
Visitors will find luminous still lifes, figurative work and interiors, the streets and canals of Florence, Venice and Siena, and a growing body of paintings made here in Mexico.
A Life in Painting
Tyler sold his first oil painting on commission at fourteen. By nineteen he was showing with Trailsides Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the next five decades his work was carried by more than fifty galleries across the United States, including in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Aspen and Scottsdale.
He has also taught for more than thirty years, as an adjunct professor and through painting workshops in the United States and Europe.
Why San Miguel de Allende
“I’ve painted old cities my whole life, Florence, Venice, Siena, because their buildings hold centuries of human presence. San Miguel has that, and it has the light: morning on the pink stone of the Parroquia, long shadows down the streets of Centro in the late afternoon. I came here to paint it...SMA also has weather that surpasses those other locations without debate.”
San Miguel has drawn Mexican and international artists for generations, and it is home to many remarkable painters today. Tyler is glad to work among them, and to add a gallery devoted to the long tradition of realist painting.
Museums and Collections
Museum collection
- European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona: Liberty Supine Upon the Altar of Freedom
Institutional collection
- Art Renewal Center: three works acquired through Purchase Awards, International Salon
Private collections include
- Alice Walton, founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
- Amon Carter III, Fort Worth
Museum exhibitions include
- Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana
- Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles
- Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California
- Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, California
- Pasadena Museum of California Art
- Canton Museum of Art, Ohio
Selected Honors
- Art Renewal Center International Salon: First Place, Still Life; multiple additional awards and finalist selections. The Deconstructionist was the first work by a living artist to rank among the ARC’s ten most-viewed paintings.
- Allied Artists of America: Grand Prize and Best of Show, National Exhibition; elected member
- Oil Painters of America: Most Original Award of Excellence, National Exhibition; Salon Merit Award; Viewer’s Choice
- National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society: Most Innovative and other national awards
- American Artists Professional League: Dianne Rudy Memorial Award, Shrine to Koons
- California Art Club: Multiple selections, Gold Medal Exhibition
- Almenara Art Prize: Fourteen works accepted in 2024; five in 2026
- Salmagundi Club, New York: Exhibited
Visit the Gallery
Residents, visiting collectors and anyone who loves painting are welcome. Tyler is often in the gallery and happy to talk about how a painting was made.
Timothy C. Tyler Fine Art
2 Calle San Gamaliel Centro, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
By appt · 479-250-7714 WhatsApp & [email protected]
When someone acquires one of my paintings, they are purchasing not only the time spent creating that particular work, but also the experience, discipline, and artistic judgment developed over a lifetime. My prices reflect the full history behind each painting: more than five decades at the easel, national and international exhibitions, hundreds of awards, museum recognition, and many years of teaching and judging.
Every artist’s career follows a different path, so naturally, prices vary. Two paintings may be similar in size or subject while representing very different levels of experience, professional recognition, and established collector interest. Among the distinctions that have helped establish the value of my work are acquisitions by three museums; the ARC Chairman’s Purchase Award; becoming the first living artist represented among ARC’s ten most-viewed works; repeated inclusion in the California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition at the Autry Museum; and major national awards from organizations including Allied Artists of America, Oil Painters of America, and NOAPS. These accomplishments do not diminish the work of other painters; they simply help explain where my work is positioned within the larger art market.
I price my paintings thoughtfully and consistently, with respect for both new buyers and the collectors who have supported my work for many years. I want each acquisition to feel personal, meaningful, and lasting. One of my greatest motivations is knowing that my collectors will live with my paintings, pass by them every day, and allow them to become part of their family’s story. A collector recently wrote to me about two paintings his family owned: “I love both of these! I grew up with them as the only art in my parents’ and grandparents’ houses. Thank you for contributing to my upbringing.” To me, that lasting connection is one of the most meaningful things a painting can achieve. It is also one of the most moving things anyone ever said about my pictures.
"Happy Homemaker" was awarded eleven awards nationally including garnered eleven awards including; “Grand Prize Allied Artists of America, which included lifetime elected membership, “National Oil and Acrylic Painters" Best of Show”, Oil Painters of America National Exhibition; “Most Original Award of Excellence”
and “Viewer’s Choice” where it was purchased at Bennington Museum of Art.
Tim Tyler’s painting Liberty Supine was added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern European Art. His painting The Deconstructionist became the first work by a living artist to break into the top ten most popular paintings at the Art Renewal Center.
His painting Happy Homemaker received eleven awards, including the Grand Prize at the Allied Artists of America Special Exhibition, which included elected membership. It also earned Best of Show in a NOAPS online contest, the Most Original Award of Excellence at the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, and Viewer’s Choice, where it was purchased.
Tim is an Out-of-State Artist Member of the California Art Club and was recently elected as a Member Artist of the Salmagundi Club and into the International Guild of Realism. His work has been exhibited at the Salmagundi Club in New York, including Virtuosos of the OPA, and at the 100th Anniversary Exhibition of Allied Artists of America at the Canton Museum of Art.
Recent honors include the Dianne Rudy Memorial Award from the American Artists Professional League for Shrine to Koons, Most Innovative at the NOAPS Best of America Exhibition for Just Plane Fun, and Best of Show in FASO. His plein air paintings have also earned Best of Show, Artists’ Choice, Best Nocturne, and multiple purchase awards at Midwest plein air festivals.
