Lalu Prasad Shaw was born in 1937 in Bengal. He pursued a diploma in painting (Western) from the, Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta (now Kolkata) from 1954 to 1959. In 1967, he became a member of the Society of Contemporary Artists.

He has exhibited his work both within the country and abroad, notably in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, the World Youth Festival Art Exhibition in Prague in 1956, the second British Biennale in London in 1970, the seventh Paris Biennale in 1971, Norwegian Print Biennales in 1974 and 1978, the second Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh in 1984.

In 1959, he received West Bengal Lalit Kala Academy’s award for graphic art. In 1976, he won the Birla Academy Award for graphic art.

He lives and works in Kolkata.