This year the Tolkien Library website will exist 10 years. I had the idea to write one article a day to celebrate this. As you all noticed this all was working out fine and then suddenly I sort of dissapeared. This had much to do with a project that I was working on and that I can now proudly announce, A Tolkien Tapestry: Pictures to accompany The Lord of the Rings. This brand new full-colour art book reveals in sumptuous detail more than 100 paintings based on The Lord of the Rings by acclaimed Dutch artist, Cor Blok, many of which appear here for the first time. After the Tolkien Calendar 2011 and the next Tolkien Calendar we can now officialy say that 2011 is the year of Cor Blok! It is exactly 50 years since the creation of the Cor Blok paintings and this book, of which i am honored to be the editor, will for the first time present a complete overview of all Cor Blok's works.

The approximately 100 full-colour paintings in this new book are presented in story order so that the reader can enjoy them as the artist intended. If one looks at the art works one by one you can easily tell the complete tale of The Lord of the Rings. So all the paintings are accompanied by extracts from The Lord of the Rings and the artist also provides an extensive introduction illuminating the creation of the series and notes to accompany some of the major compositions.

Many of the paintings appear here for the very first time. Readers will find Cor Blok's work refreshing, provocative, charming and wholly memorable – the bold and expressive style that he created stands as a unique achievement in the history of fantasy illustration. Rarely has an artist captured the essence of a writer's work in such singular fashion; the author himself agreed, and what higher accolade is there?

About Cor Blok

Cor Blok was born in The Hague in 1934, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating in 1956, he worked at the Gemeentemuseum until 1965, where, among other roles, he compiled a catalogue of the museum’s large collection of works by Piet Mondrian. During this time he also 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 JRR 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, where is currently at work on a graphic novel.

Here you can find once again theinterview with Cor Blok.

Hardcover edition of A Tolkien Tapestry

De luxe Slipcased edition of A Tolkien Tapestry

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