Although Henri Matisse's paintings and drawings are some of the most revered in the art world, his cut-outs are widely believed to represent the culmination of his artistic career. This volume examines all aspects of Matisse's cut-outs, from the early models for Jazz to the large-scale works that dominated his final creative period. When Jazz, Matisse's handmade book of paper cut-outs was published in the early 1940s, it was considered a dramatic new step for the artist, who had already blazed new ground as the father of the Fauvist movement. In his paintings Matisse had long been working toward a goal of a perfect synthesis of line and colour. By putting scissor to coloured paper, he was able to refine his technique, and he came to see the cut-out as his primary artistic medium in his late career. This collection of reproductions and critical essays seeks to offer a chance to appreciate the full spectrum of Matisse's work in this medium, and presents discoveries about their connection to his earliest works, methods, philosophies and vision of paradise.