Robert Rafailovich Falk was born in Moscow on October 27, 1886, into a family of a lawyer from the Baltic region. He received a general education at a real school, graduating in 1902. In 1903 and 1905, he studied painting and drawing at the school of K. F. Yuon and I. O. Dudina, and then at the studio of I. I. Mashkov.

From 1905 to 1909, he continued his studies at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture under masters such as A. E. Arkhipov, A. M. Vasnetsov, L. O. Pasternak, in the workshops of V. A. Serov and K. A. Korovin. Since 1905, he participated in exhibitions, initially under the pseudonym 'Klaf Trebor', at the School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, the Moscow Society of Artists, and the 'Golden Fleece' salon (1905, 1910). During this time, he also taught drawing in elementary schools. In 1909, to marry Elizaveta Potehina, Falk was baptized with the name Roman.

At the School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, he became close to I. I. Mashkov, A. V. Lentulov, A. V. Kuprin, and P. P. Konchalovsky, who later became the foundation of the 'Jack of Diamonds' group. In 1910, he became one of the founders of this group and regularly participated in its exhibitions until 1916. At the same time, he took part in the 'World of Art' exhibitions (1911, 1917, 1921, 1922). In 1911, Falk traveled to Italy.

After the October Revolution, he worked in the Collegium of Fine Arts of the People's Commissariat for Education (1918, 1921). From 1918 to 1928, he taught at the State Free Art Workshops, Vkhutemas, and Vkhutein, where he was a professor and, from 1926, the dean of the painting faculty. Since 1921, he was a member of the Moscow branch of the Cultural League.

Falk participated in many group exhibitions in the Soviet Union and abroad, including the First Russian Art Exhibition at the Van Diemen Gallery in Berlin (1922), the XIV and XVI International Exhibitions in Venice (1924 and 1928), the Exhibition of Arts and Decorative Arts in Paris (1925), as well as exhibitions of Soviet art in Dresden (1926), Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen (traveling, 1927), Tokyo (1927), Paris (1928), New York, Boston, Detroit (traveling, 1929), Vienna, Berlin, and Stockholm (both, 1930). He was also an exhibitor of the Society of Moscow Artists (1925, 1928) and AHRR (1926, 1928).

Since 1925, Falk worked as a theater decorator, designing the play 'Night at the Old Market' based on I. Peretz's play at the Jewish Chamber Theater in Moscow. He later collaborated with the Mossovet Theater, GOSTET, the State Chamber Theater, and the Satire Theater.

In 1928, on a commission from the People's Commissariat for Education, he went to France and stayed in Paris, where he traveled to Corsica, Brittany, and Provence. He exhibited his works at the salons of the Independents, Tuileries, and the Autumn Salon, and held solo exhibitions in the Paris galleries 'Zak' (1929) and 'Van-Leer' (1937).

In 1937, Falk returned to the Soviet Union and lived in Moscow. In 1938, he undertook creative trips to Crimea and Central Asia and held solo exhibitions at the Central House of Writers and the Central House of Arts Workers in Moscow (1939).

In 1941 and 1943, he was evacuated in Bashkiria and Central Asia, where he created a cycle of drawings and watercolors. In 1942 and 1943, he taught at the Central Art and Industrial School and the Samarkand Art School. In 1943, an exhibition of his Central Asian works took place in Samarkand.

In 1944, Falk returned to Moscow and made creative trips to Crimea (1950), Moldova (1951, 1952), and the Baltic region (1953). In the 1940s and 1950s, he was repeatedly criticized as a formalist. Robert Falk passed away in Moscow on October 1, 1958, and was buried at Kalitnikovsky Cemetery, plot No. 20.