Nikolay Evgrafov received his education from the Nizhny Novgorod Art Technical School and the Leningrad Art and Pedagogical Technical School. He also trained under Kazimir Malevich in the Formal-Theoretical Department of the State Institute of Artistic Culture (GINKhUK). Evgrafov was a student of Pavel Filonov and was a member of the MAI group until 1930. He designed I.G. Terentiev's play "The Inspector" in 1927 in the style of analytical art at the House of Printing.

His works aimed to create a dialogue between Filonov's analytical method and the varieties of European modernism, with explorations into post-impressionism, neo-primitivism, and fauvism. Evgrafov also worked on abstract painting in 1940-1941, in addition to designing festivals and parades in Leningrad during the 1930s. Sadly, he died on the front. His works can be found in several collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, A. A. Bakhrushin Central State Theatre Museum, and others.