| Medium | : | Tempera |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 22 inch / 55.9 cm |
| Width | : | 28 inch / 71.1 cm |
| Surface | : | Board |
| Style | : | Figurative Paintings |
| Dimension | : | W: 71.1 cm × H: 55.9 cm |
| Year | : | 2020 |
Babu Bibi by Lalu Prasad Shaw beautifully portrays a traditional Bengali couple in a quiet moment of togetherness. Rendered in tempera on board with bold colours and folk-inspired simplicity, the artwork celebrates companionship, cultural heritage, and the enduring charm of everyday life.
Lalu Prasad Shaw | Babu Bibi | Tempera on Board | 28 x 22 inches | 2020
Babu Bibi by Lalu Prasad Shaw is a charming portrayal of companionship, presented through the artist’s distinctive folk-inspired visual language. Painted in tempera on board, the artwork features a traditionally dressed Bengali couple seated opposite one another, sharing a quiet, unspoken connection. Their calm expressions and relaxed postures create a scene that feels both intimate and timeless, celebrating the beauty of everyday life.
The striking red background lends the composition a sense of warmth and vibrancy, while the carefully balanced arrangement keeps the focus on the figures. Shaw’s signature bold outlines, simplified forms, and harmonious colour palette draw inspiration from Bengal’s Kalighat tradition, giving the painting a refined yet accessible character. Delicate details such as the woman’s floral bouquet, elegant jewellery, the gentleman’s hookah, and the coordinated striped garments enrich the narrative without overwhelming its simplicity.
Rather than telling a dramatic story, the artwork captures a peaceful moment of shared presence and quiet affection. It reflects the grace of traditional Bengali culture while embracing a modern sense of design, making it a timeless piece that brings warmth, colour, and cultural richness to any living or gallery space.
Born in Suri Bengal, in 1937, Lalu Prasad Shaw obtained a Diploma in Painting from the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1959.
Despite training in Company School art, traditional Kalighat pats and Ajanta cave frescos, Shaw evolved his distinctive style to work in watercolours and oil. His teachers were some of the leading artists of the time, such as Gopal Ghose, Rathin Maitra, and Maniklal Banerjee.
In the 1970s, Shaw mastered the genre of graphics — initiated by the Society of Contemporary Artists — expressing it through the abstract form. Shaw experimented with the two-dimensional, geometric and non-figurative, as is evident in his lithographs.
Unlike his prints, Shaw’s paintings are charged with nostalgia and are object-specific. His brooding characters — men, women, and children — seem frozen into a kind of quiescent gesture; they are formal and speechless, but still expressive. Drawing from Mughal miniatures and adhering largely to profiles framed within borders along the edges, Shaw depicts faces of ordinary people, emphasising their physical characteristics. He has also experimented with landscapes, appearing to merge the urban and rural visual in styles ranging from the minimalist to cubist-inspired. His confident use of broad blocks of colours placed harmoniously is seen here too.
Shaw has exhibited extensively in India and abroad and his works form part of national and international collections. He has received prestigious awards like the West Bengal Lalit Kala Akademi award, the national award of the Lalit Kala Akademi, and the Birla Academy award. He lives and works in Kolkata.
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