The painting was gifted to the present owner by Frank in 2019.

The story that was told to him at the time by Rachel, Frank's wife, is that the painting was started in 1968 (as it is dated on the verso), not many of the markings from that time are still visible as in 1978 Frank poured / dripped paint all over the surface of the canvas (as part of his series of poured paintings), leaving the image that is now visible. The canvas was rolled up and forgotten about for decades, and found again in 2019 when the artist added the blue 'marouflage' (a term Frank uses) border. Irene was the name of Frank's first wife - not much about her is known other than that she was the mother of his eldest child Dan, who tragically died young - and who is the subject of many of Frank's most introspective artworks.