Lalu Prasad Shaw

Born in a middle class family in Siuri, 1937, Lalu Prasad Shaw is one of the most important modernist painters of India, who spent his childhood in the vicinity of local artisans painting ‘pats’ and ‘chaali-s’ for the idols. Having done his institutional training in art at the Government college of Art, Calcutta he went through the academic studies of anatomy, perspectives and portraiture with later on residing to abstract forms.

His drawings seem like a graphical replica of his visual experiences and responses to the goings on around him, dedicating to the art of image making. His has been a significant contribution during the resurgence of printmaking as he worked in lithographs at Kalabhavan, Shantiniketan, experimenting with two-dimensional, geometric and non-figurative.

He commenced his journey with the Bengali Babu and Bibi by simply observing the Bengali couples at the photography studio at Shantiniketan and they found their way in Shaw’s paintings as characters-cum-family for over six decades to date.
Instantly recognizable and distinct stylization of the Babu-Bibi culture, his paintings are pure figurative compositions with him giving every figure a unique and different character against the flat background in Tempera.
While claiming simplicity to be the key to his art, the artist accepts having influences of Kalighat and Pat which has been reflecting through the flat application and the image composition of his paintings. A language predominantly figurative, his fascination with the stories of Babu-Bibi is visible through the attire detailing as well as with the usage of simple objects around that also marks an intellectual, civilised and an educated portrayal. Along with the astonishingly flat application, colours have a different impact, bright and bold, depicting the drama that adds up in life as well as in the households pertaining to Bengali people.

The artist in his 80s today has had exhibited extensively in India and abroad since 1956, and some of his most recent solo shows include ‘Looking in’ at Galerie 88, Kolkata, in 2011-12; ‘Graceful Silence’ and ‘Sepia Notes’ at Art Musings, Mumbai, in 2011 and 2007. He has also been conferred by West Bengal Lalit Kala Akademi Award, the National Award and the Birla Academy Award.
He lives and works in Kolkata. You can browse through our gallery of Serigraphs to see more of his artworks and paintings along with other famous serigraph artists.