Alexander Grigoriev was born in 1891 in a teacher's family in the village of Petnury, near Kozmodemyansk. From an early age, he showed an interest in painting. At that time, national visual arts were just beginning to develop, and among Mari artists, artistic education was a rarity. Grigoriev became one of the first representatives of the Mari who received professional education and academic training. He enrolled in the Kazan Art School, where he studied under the famous artist N. Feshin, and then continued his studies at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. In the pre-revolutionary years, this educational institution was a place of confrontation between various artistic movements, from academic realism to avant-garde.

In 1919, Grigoriev returned from Moscow to his homeland with his young wife, Evgenia Baklanova, to actively engage in public activities. He considered it his mission to develop artistic education in his native region and dreamed of creating a "small Tretyakov Gallery" in his city. Thanks to his efforts and talent, this dream later became a reality. At that time, he headed the volost department of public education, facilitated the opening of a decorative arts workshop, organized the first local art exhibition, founded an art school, and a local history museum with an art department.

In 1922, Grigoriev was called to Moscow, as the young Soviet state needed energetic and educated people to build a new system of art and education. That same year, together with the last chairman of the Peredvizhniki society and other like-minded individuals, he founded the AHRR, the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia, which had a significant impact on Soviet art. Grigoriev worked tirelessly, actively participating in public and creative life, providing advice, finding material resources, leading artists' unions, and organizing exhibitions. However, his health deteriorated, and in 1938 he was arrested. He spent eight years in an NKVD farm near Karaganda, erased from his life. After his release in 1946, he continued to bear the stigma of "enemy of the people." For several years, he lived in a dilapidated house in Tarusa, earning a living by painting signs for cafes. In 1954, Grigoriev was rehabilitated, received a union-wide pension, and was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the MSSR.

Alexander Vladimirovich Grigoriev passed away in August 1961 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.