Without a picture, we have no clue what you are talking about. There is always tile and electricity is always present.

I'm not sure how tile changes the "balanced" nature of having an electrical box that's hidden by a painting. There's no "electrical" issue with a box in a tiled wall. You may have to extend he box out a smidge if the tile is really thick (it needs to be within 1/4" of the finished surface.

I am curiuos to know why there is an electrical box there and why a painting behind a stove so some pictures would be good and how did the electrician handle all the other boxes

Without a picture, we are guessing, but my guess is that a previous owner had a hood or a microwave on a shelf plugged into that receptacle. The current or immediately preceding owner didn't want that outlet used so hung a picture over it to hide it. You can't permanently block any outlet but you can hide it or put a blank plate over it. Do you intend to use that outlet? If not, I would do what Ron suggests and put a box extender and then a blank plate over it.

You can "die "it at the circuit box. And get rid of it." Call an electrician. Then patch and carry on .You can't bury a LIVE box. You have to kill it at the circuit box

Is it a real box or a plug-in?

Hard to imagine a “picture”over a stove where you will be cooking...

Thank you all for your comments! I didn't want to just call an electrician after I heard what the tile man said until I understood if it was worth the money to try to move this box, or didn't have to. Also when I 1st posted the comment it didn't allow me to post a photo, so here is the picture where

you can see where the tile ends and where I was trying to extend it. Thank you so much for your input!

By the way, this is the actual electric circuit breaker for the entire unit. The building was built in about 1940 and I guess that's just where the box always was, and was always left In place. Thank you again!

Close up of box

This might be the better picture to see how I thought it might be best to extend the tile to behind the stove. I'm assuming most decorators would say that's a better look, which is why I'm attempting to consider whether doing it makes sense...both from a design and $ standpoint. The existing tile is in perfect condition. Thanks again!

Just have them tile around it. I can't imagine that things will be any worse with the tile than it is now. There's no point in moving this panel (it's not just a box). Everybody thought when you said "box" you were referring to a switch or receptacle box.

Is this an older apartment or condo or something?

I would fix this...move the box...installed in 1940 ?..have to hang something over it ?... this is the time to correct a potential hazard....moving it over to be behind the fridge might work...but not ideal for the accessibility ....follow the electricians guidance...
as to the aesthetics...i would remove the shelving....build in the refrigerator...and put a nice hood over the stove...this way you can tile the wall above the stove to whatever height you prefer...( to the ceiling would be best)....this would all be money well spent toward bringing the kitchen up to date...and out of the 40’s

I might also say it is really unclear what you are contemplating here....are you just adding new tile behind the stove or re-doing all the tile ?....is this a remodel or just a little change to the stove wall?

Yes ideally I was wanting to tile all the way to the shelving because of my hope to add a flat top stove. It made sense. Then the tile guy said no because only a backsplash was possible. Which got me wondering what to do. But others on houzz have agreed with me that the vintage shelving is darling and I would like to keep it. The building is so old there's no need to add a big vent because we don't have access to ventilate out of this 1939 condo building. Best could add is a hood,, and I dont like the look or space they take-up at eye level (I am tall) There are challenges here but we aren't blowing holes into the roof for anybody. So I wanted to both get more esthetic but also more function with tile. If makes no sense to do anything with this old electrical system please let me know, but if it is an electrical hazard I would appreciate knowing that from anybody who knows anything about this thing because nobody has ever informed me that that is a danger. I was just looking for the estetics of it. And again the tile guy was not going for the idea. I suppose I could remove the bracet from under the shelf and then he could add a better finished edge to the tile on the right side, but of course I must advise him what to do with the Box. Build a door for it? Move it? Thank you again, all of you pros!

Circuit box needs major upgrade:)

Thank you my pros, thank you thank you! I will call that electrician before I proceed. You are all wonderful kitchen remodel friends, thank you thank you!

This box is a fairly old small panel. It dates from the fifties. It was obviously after Trumball was bought out by GE. You see them around. They are not particularly bad designs. The biggest issue is that over the years people cram some other manufacturer breakers in there but yours looks authentic.

If this is not an apartment where this is a minimal main panel, then it was likely installed when a kitchen renovation changed the stove from gas to electric. If the latter, it might be able to be removed or relocated (you'll have to have an electrician look at it more closely). If this is the only panel in the home, you're probably talking major efforts to relocate it.

Thank you run for that background information. Yes I went into other units to take a look and it seems that even if they had a better Box installed,bthat everybody has it in about the same spot though they have it inside of the cupboard. So some people ripped out these old vintage darling cupboards and then when they built the new cupboards one of the doorfronts had the access. Now I understand. I'm probably the last unit with the vintage cupboards. So without moving it, is the tile man right to just skip tileing beyond a backsplash if I want to spend the $ o do it?