| Medium | : | Pastel |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 13 inch / 33 cm |
| Width | : | 10 inch / 25.4 cm |
| Surface | : | Paper |
| Style | : | Figurative Paintings |
| Dimension | : | W: 25.4 cm × H: 33 cm |
| Year | : | 2005 |
A serene and elegant pastel-on-paper portrait by Lalu Prasad Shaw, this untitled 2005 artwork portrays a woman in profile using soft earthy tones and graceful linear detailing. Minimal yet deeply expressive, the piece beautifully reflects the artist’s signature blend of folk-inspired simplicity and modern sophistication.
Lalu Prasad Shaw | Untitled | Pastel on Paper | 13 x 10 inches | 2005
This untitled pastel-on-paper portrait by Lalu Prasad Shaw reflects the artist’s unmistakable visual language — calm, graceful, and deeply rooted in simplicity. Created in 2005, the artwork presents the profile of a woman rendered with clean contours, soft tonal shading, and delicate linear detailing that gives the composition both elegance and quiet strength.
The figure’s elongated features, carefully patterned hair, and minimal adornments evoke a timeless beauty inspired by folk traditions and everyday Indian life. Shaw’s restrained palette of earthy reddish-brown pastel tones adds warmth and intimacy to the portrait, while the subtle expression creates a feeling of stillness and contemplation.
What makes this work especially engaging is its balance between stylization and humanity. Though simplified in form, the portrait carries personality and emotional presence, inviting viewers to pause and connect with its serene mood. The artist’s mastery lies in transforming minimal details into a richly expressive visual experience.
Executed in pastel on paper, this artwork is a beautiful example of Lalu Prasad Shaw’s iconic portraiture style — refined, lyrical, and effortlessly modern while remaining deeply connected to Indian artistic traditions.
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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