Boris Grigoriev studied at the Stroganov Art School and the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He began exhibiting his work in 1909 and became a member of the World of Art movement in 1913. Grigoriev was also interested in the Russian countryside, painting and creating graphic works of rural Russia. His series of paintings, Russia, depicted the poverty and strength of the Russian village life. He also had an affair with painter Martha Visser't Hooft while living in Paris.

In 1919, Grigoriev traveled abroad and lived in many countries including Finland, Germany, France, the United States, Central, and South Americas. He attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, where he was strongly influenced by Paul Cézanne. Grigoriev died in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1939. He also wrote a poem, America, which was not published until 2003.