Around 1981 Thames & Hudson commissioned the art historian Lawrence Gowing (1918-1991) to write a monograph on Lucian Freud, which was published in 1982. To offset the costs of publication, the publisher offered one hundred copies of a deluxe edition, each accompanied by a print by Freud. The project generated about 19 etchings from which four were chosen and published with the book, each in an edition of 25. This is the second of two etchings Freud made of Gowing; the first was not published. The mark-making in this print is quite various, with long, thick, deeply etched lines and finer, shallower lines. The pale spots which dapple the head were achieved by dabbing stopping-out varnish onto the plate.