Raúl Russo was born in Buenos Aires, on December 29, 1912. He studies at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, graduating in 1931. In 1932 he takes courses at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes "Ernesto de la Cárcova", where he becomes a disciple of the painter Emilio Centurión and studies mural painting and engraving with Alfredo Guido. At around this time he starts to frequent Jorge Larco’s workshop.
As of 1929, he attends different provincial show rooms. In 1942, he makes his first individual exhibits in several galleries, museums and institutions in Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Avellaneda, Córdoba and Tucumán. He also exhibits at international events such as Exposición Panamericana in New York (1946), Bienal in San Pablo (1953, 1963), Bienal in Venice (1954, 1956 and 1962) and at the Feria Internacional in Brussels (1958).
As of 1948, he works as a professor at the University of Architecture of Buenos Aires and as of 1955; he also works at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano.
In 1946 and 1949 he is awarded the First Prize at the Salón de la Sociedad de Acuarelistas y Grabadores based on the theme “City of Buenos Aires"; in 1960 he is awarded the Grand Prize at the Salón Nacional and the Honor Prize at the Salón Municipal in Buenos Aires. He takes part in the Pintura y Escultura Argentinas del Siglo XX exhibit, from 1952 to 1953. In 1961, he is awarded the Palanza Award. In 1968 he is admitted into the National Academy of Fine Arts as a numbered member.
In 1963, Manuel Mujica Láinez writes his autobiography and in 1982, Dos Amigos publish a book about his artistic career, an investigation written by Martha Nanni.
In 1968, he makes the huge stained glass at the entrance of the Parroquia Nuestra Señora Madre de los Inmigrantes church located on Necochea St. in La Boca, Buenos Aires.
He moves to Paris in 1976, where he lives until his death on December 6, 1984.
In 1991 the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes organizes an exhibit in his honor.
In 2003, the inauguration exhibition at the Pabellón de las Bellas Artes de La Universidad Católica Argentina showed his work together with that of Presas, Rosso and Victorica, among other artists in the Argentine Sacred Artexhibit. In 2005, this same institution offers an anthological exhibit in his honor.
His work can be found in the following museums: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes; Museo Municipal de Artes Plásticas “Eduardo Sívori”; Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires and La Plata; Museo Provincial in La Rioja and at the Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes in Córdoba, among other institutions.