Lucian Freud is the most celebrated artist in England. Following the publication of his work by Jonathan Cape in the autumn of 2005, the painter talks in a series of conversations rather than formal interviews. He talks about painting itself, the demands of his own work, and the painters he admires.

Lucian Freud spent seven months painting a portrait of the art critic Martin Gayford. Gayford describes the process chronologically, from the day he arrived for the first sitting through to his meeting with the couple who bought the finished painting. As Freud creates his portrait, so Gayford produces his own portrait of the artist.