In 1942 the publisher, Elf Tériade, commissioned Matisse to make a book of colour images. Matisse selected Jazz as the title to reflect the vibrancy and rhythm of the images and although conceived as a book on the circus he began to incorporate other subjects and motifs. This image shows a knife thrower (the strong purple shape) mid-act. Matisse’s nurse, Lydia Delectorskaya, noted Matisse’s description of the works to be included in the publication. Here: 'he forms a contrast with the soft colour of the female target (pale blue) with a flowery, trusting heart' to the jagged, dynamic form of the knife thrower on the left. Following surgery for cancer in 1941, Matisse struggled to stand by an easel and instead made cut-outs while confined to his bed or wheelchair.