| Medium | : | Conte |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 20 inch / 50.8 cm |
| Width | : | 16 inch / 40.6 cm |
| Surface | : | Thick Paper |
| Style | : | Figurative Paintings |
| Dimension | : | W: 40.6 cm × H: 50.8 cm |
| Year | : | 2020 |
Executed in Conte on thick paper, the works rely on a restrained palette of warm terracotta and sepia tones, allowing the elegant linearity of the figures to remain central. The Babu is portrayed as a refined, bespectacled gentleman, standing with a walking stick and cigarette, while the Bibi appears seated in a graceful, contemplative pose, absorbed in the quiet gesture of arranging her hair. Shaw’s figures are characterised by elongated proportions, stylised facial features, simplified anatomy and an economy of line that gives them a distinctive graphic quality.
Lalu Prasad Shaw | Untitled | Conte on Thick Paper | 20 x 16 inches | 2020
These two works by Lalu Prasad Shaw, titled Babu and Bibi, exemplify the artist’s distinctive engagement with the Babu-Bibi theme, a recurring subject in his artistic vocabulary. Executed in Conte on thick paper, the works rely on a restrained palette of warm terracotta and sepia tones, allowing the elegant linearity of the figures to remain central. The Babu is portrayed as a refined, bespectacled gentleman, standing with a walking stick and cigarette, while the Bibi appears seated in a graceful, contemplative pose, absorbed in the quiet gesture of arranging her hair. Shaw’s figures are characterised by elongated proportions, stylised facial features, simplified anatomy and an economy of line that gives them a distinctive graphic quality. Drawing upon the visual language of Kalighat painting, Bengali popular imagery and modernist figuration, Shaw transforms familiar social types into sophisticated studies of urban Bengali culture and mannerism. The simplicity of the compositions, combined with subtle humour and an acute observation of gesture and character, gives these works their enduring charm, while the paired presentation of Babu and Bibi creates a dialogue between masculine and feminine identities within Shaw’s imagined social world.
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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