Boris Fyodorovich Frantsuzov was born in the town of Kameshkovo in 1940. His mother died in 1942, and his father died at the front in 1943. The future artist was raised by his paternal grandparents. At first Boris Frantsuzov was trained at the Mstyora Art School of Lacquer Miniature.

Later, his career took off and he joined the Union of Artists. In 1965, he entered the Faculty of Industrial Graphics of the Moscow Higher School of Industrial and Applied Arts (now the Moscow State Stroganov Academy of Industrial and Applied Arts).

Frantsuzov carved his own path in art with zeal and passion. Although some thought he was destined to be a painter, he suddenly turned to graphics. This unexpected hobby rapidly grew into something bigger. In 1970, the artist returned to Vladimir, where he headed a graphics club.

The talent and personal charm of Boris Frantsuzov played a big role in the formation of the Vladimir school of graphic arts. The Honored Artist of Russia perfectly mastered the technique of etching. Not many modern graphic artists can compare with him in this artform. Art historians deem him as one of the classics, who determined the most important pathways of developing Russian art.

Boris Frantsuzov wrote,

He added,

These words of the artist can be put as an epigraph to his etching “Bad Weather”. In it he depicted the Church of the Intercession built in 1165 at the confluence of the Klyazma and Nerl rivers during the reign of Andrey Bogolyubsky, the son of Yury Dolgoruky.