Born in Bengal in 1937, he studied art at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata in 1959 

Despite receiving training in traditional Kalighat pats, Ajanta cave paintings, and Company School art, Lalu Prasad Shaw developed his own style to create in oil and watercolour Shaw, who considers himself to be a painter, developed a passion for printmaking when he was 32 years old and became an expert in the field of graphic arts When Shaw joined the "Society of Contemporary Artists" in 1967, artist Sanat Kar introduced him to graphic prints, and Suhas Roy, who had just returned from Paris, taught Shaw the basics of etching This is when Shaw first became fascinated with printmaking A display of graphic prints from Czechoslovakia that had travelled to Kolkata also had an impact on him He was inspired by this display to employ black and white in a powerful and audacious way 

Under the skilful direction of Somnath Hore, he continuously worked in both lithography and etching and redesigned the printing division at Kala Bhavana As a result of Shaw's travels, etching and lithography improved not only Bengal's printmaking scene but also that of the entire country Shaw, who experimented with both abstraction and figuration and believed completely in the idea of the "journey" of learning new methods to express the picture, continued to work in both printmaking and a variety of painting techniques side by side

 

In a prolonged glittering career, the veteran artist exhibited his works widely in India as well as internationally These included the British Biennale, London, 1970, and Ljubljana Biennale in 1973, the Norwegian Print Biennale in 1974, and 1978, and the World Biennale of Graphic Art, London in 1980 among others The artist had a recent exhibition in Mumbai where he provided a glimpse of his multi-hued facets oeuvre 

 

He was also awarded awards such as the All India Graphic and Drawing Exhibition, Chandigarh (1981), Award for Graphic Art and Drawing, India (1978), and Birla Academy Award for Graphic Art (1976) He was awarded National Award in Graphic Art, India (1971) He received the West Bengal Lalit Kala Academy Award for Graphic Art (1959) Shaw taught art for 18 years after his graduation, covering artwork in watercolour,  clay and pastel modelling in various schools in West Bengal Later, he taught graphic art at his alma mater and eventually repositioned to Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan