The Horse, the Rider, and the Clown, plate V from the illustrated book "Jazz"

Matisse described Jazz as "chromatic and rhythmic improvisations" that reflect "crystallizations of memories of circuses, folktales, and voyages." Despite of their ostensibly joyous subjects, scenes convey a deep sense of danger, loss, even death. He began Jazz during World War II, after France fell to the Nazis and the Vichy government was established—a dark time when people were deported and killed, hunger was rampant, and the country was bombed. Matisse’s family, active in the Resistance, was in great danger. Gravely ill, he remained in France in spite of invitations to emigrate; surgery saved his life but left him weak and with limited mobility.

During this period, he created "cut-outs" (papiers découpés)— shapes cut from painted papers and assembled into compositions. He described the technique, which he initially viewed as a planning tool, as "drawing with scissors." In 1943, Matisse began the cut-outs for Jazz, exploring the interplay between forms and colors. Printer Edmond Vairel used gouaches and pochoir (a stencil technique) to ensure that the prints mirrored the cut-outs’ "vivid and violent" hues.