This is one of a group of 143 state, trial and cancellation proofs of etchings by Lucian Freud (1922-2011) which came from the collection of Marc Balakjian (1938-2017) of Studio Prints. Balakjian was Freud’s printer from 1985 and worked closely with him on the production of his etchings.

This is the second state (unpublished) of Naked Man on a Bed, 1987, published in an edition of 10. The published print shows the naked figure isolated on a white ground; after the 10 impressions were pulled, Freud decided to continue working on the plate, and filled in the background with details of the bed and its coverings, and the view of the studio space beyond with a pile of rags on the floor. He also added shading to the figure's shoulder, upper arm, and knees, and detail to the outer and inner thigh. According to Marc Balakjian he was dissatisfied with the drawing and decided not to publish this state. There is a printer's proof, and three trial proofs extant, of which this is one. For this proof, Balakjian used brown-black ink.

The sitter is Angus Cook, one of Freud's principal models at this time.