Matisse recalls his time in Tahiti with the lagoon plates. He describes them as “simply the shimmering colors of the tropics, with animal or undulating forms, evocations of calm waters.” He says of the Lagoons, "Aren't you one of the seven wonders of the Paradise of painters?"
Henri Matisse’s Jazz (1947) is often considered the pinnacle of livres d’artiste, or artist’s books. Livres d’artiste are typically collaborations between artists and authors resulting in limited edition, fine-crafted, beautifully printed books with original graphic work. Jazz was produced as an edition of 250 books, with the pages folded in half.
To create these works, Matisse cut forms out of large sheets of paper previously painted with gouache by his assistants. The cut-outs were then assembled on the wall of Matisse’s studio, under his direction. Tériade, the book's publisher, who suggested that title, explained that the paper cuts embodied the same improvisational spirit as jazz and that music was an indispensable part of Matisse’s life. Thus, his paper cut collages resemble jazz.
The themes set forth in Jazz can be separated into four categories: the world of the French music hall and circus, mythology and legends, symbolism for the War between France and Germany, and memories from his life and travels. In Jazz, Matisse's subjects are more like verbs than nouns, however. They express the feeling of leaping, flying, swimming, falling. They cut straight to the viewer's experience rather than merely depicting someone else’s.
For an artist like Matisse, the ability to suggest the natural world in all its diversity through the simple act of cutting shapes from colored paper became the ultimate act of creation by his knowing where to start and when to stop.
){kind=link}