TIM CANTOR

In 1975, Tim Cantor’s father recognized his son’s extraordinary desire for drawing. Not like something taught.  This was love.  He went into the attic in search of a long-forgotten box of oil paints and brushes that had once belonged to Tim’s great-grandfather. With these very tools—used nearly a century earlier as his British ancestor traveled through Asia, Europe, and America—Tim began painting. His understanding of oils was immediately clear, and his lifelong passion was set in motion. By the age of five, he had completed his first oil painting; by fifteen, he held his first gallery exhibition, where one of his works was acquired for display in the White House. From that moment, his art was in demand.  

 

Over the years, Tim’s paintings have been exhibited around the world. His art became more than his profession—it was his way of life, carved in passion. His subjects are strange, sometimes beautiful, always quiet.  Holding you by their details, often weaving together portraits, animals, fabrics, trees—such trees that lean as if they are feeling. Colors that pull you in. And always, somewhere in the paint, Amy. She is in the shapes, in the shadows, in the hidden letters of her name.        

 

He paints at night. Always. The world is quieter then. It is the only time that belongs to him. He paints in silence, and the silence becomes part of the work. That noiseless focus has shaped not only his paintings but also his unique way of poetic writings.  The words are personal and filled with meaning, explaining the paintings, but not completely. 

 

In 2015, Tim Cantor formed a close creative bond with the Grammy-winning band Imagine Dragons, a friendship that continues to this day. He designed the cover for their second album, Smoke + Mirrors, along with thirteen paintings, each representing a song from the LP. His art became part of their stage designs and the SHOTS music video, while a touring gallery of his work accompanied the band to over sixty shows across North America and Asia. Smoke + Mirrors went on to reach number one on the Billboard 200, introducing Tim’s art to an even wider audience. He continues to work with Imagine Dragons on unique and unexpected projects, keeping their artistic connection alive.  They understand each other.  

 

Tim’s work is difficult to define. Though he is considered a modern artist, but his hands move like painters from centuries ago. Dutch masters. Renaissance artists. French classicists. He does not fit neatly into any category.  His paintings often appear in unusual places, including film, television, and digital worlds—an especially rare feat for an artist who paints solely by hand, mixing his colors, grinding his paints and applying them strictly to classical precision.  

 

Tim and Amy Cantor have expanded their artistic reach by opening a gallery in Amsterdam, another home to match the one in America. They now spend most of the year in Amsterdam, where Tim continues his nightly painting rituals.  

 

His art has found its way into the lives of collectors and admirers from all over the world. Considering he made his first authentic oil painting at five years old. If he lives as long as most men, he may have one of the longest artistic careers in history. Tim Cantor is, in many ways, a mystery—his work is unpredictable, his process deeply personal. While the future of his art remains open-ended, one thing is certain: the act of painting, lost in the world he creates.  That is what he does.  That is what he will always do.