Cor Blok was born in The Hague in 1934, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. During this time he painted about 140 pictures inspired by The Lord of the Rings, a selection of which was exhibited at The Hague. When a sample of his paintings was sent to J. R. R. Tolkien this led to a correspondence and eventual meeting with the author, who bought two paintings and was presented with a third. Cor Blok lives in Amsterdam.
