Directly related to his memories of Tahiti, this work by Matisse is part of the publication, Jazz. 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. It was conceived as a book on the circus, but he began to incorporate other subjects and motifs, such as the lagoon. Matisse described the three lagoon works in Jazz to his nurse, Lydia Delectorskaya: 'simply the shimmering colours of the tropics, with animals or undulating forms, evocations of calm waters'. Following surgery for cancer in 1941, Matisse began to work with cut-outs; the sensual forms of the cut paper became an iconic part of his practice.