LALU SHAW

Lalu Prasad Shaw was born in Bengal in 1937, and completed his education in fine arts at the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Kolkata.

Known widely for his highly stylized portraits of Bengali women and couples, Lalu Prasad Shaw’s works lay the most emphasis on his subject’s physical characteristics. Capturing the expressions of his subjects perfectly with the greatest economy of line and colour each of Shaw’s paintings has an intimate feel to it.

Influenced by the pre-independence Company School of art, the traditional Kalighat Pat and the Ajanta cave paintings, Shaw’s works, mainly executed in gouache or tempera, like his own person, are simple and graceful, having a very still, well-composed and smooth exterior. This senior artist draws his inspiration primarily from nature and the milieu surrounding the great Bengali middle class, often depicting pleasant and quiet scenes from his own life on his canvases and papers. His style is unique and modern in its adaptation of academic and traditional Indian formats.