My first view of Jamaica was from an altitude of about eight thousand feet. The morning was cloudless and the island was discernible from many miles away. Now, remembering that moment my mind becomes choked with clichés ... but of course I didn't know or dream or foresee how familiar that particular sight would become, how many times in the future I was destined to see these green hills and blue mountains rising out of the sea' (N. Coward, Future Indefinite, 1954, in S. Morley, Out in the Midday Sun, The Paintings of Noël Coward, Oxford, 1988, p. 40).

Sir Noël Coward, the famous playwright and composer, first visited Jamaica in 1944 where he wrote the memorable song 'Uncle Harry'. Coward was immediately enchanted with the island and returned in 1948 when he heard that Ian Fleming's house 'Goldeneye' at Oracabessa was available to rent. Coward soon purchased his winter home on the island, 'Blue Harbour' and his time spent there not only inspired him to paint some of his most accomplished works, but also marked the happiest years of his life.

Similar to Paul Gauguin’s allure with Tahiti, Coward found inspiration in the exotic island of Jamaica and indeed Coward often referred to his painting style as ‘Touch-and-Gauguin’. In Coastal village in Jamaica a comparison with Gauguin is evident in the somewhat primitive style which is evoked by the flat areas of paint and the seemingly naïve depiction of the figures in the foreground. The present work captures his personal response to the island's spirits and moods in a highly theatrical way and his use of vivid shades of aquamarines, turquoises, pinks and deep greens, set off against the reds and yellows in which the local figures are dressed is characteristic of Coward’s Jamaican paintings.