Henri Matisse’s large format illustrated book titled “Jazz” (1947) was “performed” primarily in 1944 under arduous circumstances during the German occupation of France. Because illness made easel painting difficult, Matisse cut images out of paper and arranged them as collages from which his assistant prepared stencils and then made prints. The twenty images in Jazz are non-musical subjects drawn from everyday life - e.g., The Clown, The Swimmer in the pool. The abstract forms are made accessible by the titles. I find that their freshness and boldness inspire even today.

Here are some collages from the Jazz series by Henri Matisse, plus various paintings, exhibited at the Centre Pompidou.