Born into a family of embroidery designers, Victor Prouvé attended the Nancy drawing school from 1873 to 1877, then studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris until 1882 in Cabanel's studio. He lived in Paris until 1902, but continued to take part in Nancy's artistic life, becoming the second president of the École de Nancy when Émile Gallé died in 1904.

Initially a portrait and landscape painter, he was also a sculptor, engraver, worked in leather and metal, designed embroidery and jewellery, and collaborated with many artists and industrialists from the École de Nancy. He designed several glassware and furniture sets for Émile Gallé, which were presented at the Paris World Fairs in 1889 (Le Rhin table, Le Chêne Lorrain cabinet, Flora Marina flora Exotica planter) and 1900 (Les Hommes noirs vase). He made plaster studies for Eugène Vallin (Masson dining room), created embroidery designs for Fernand Courteix (Bord de rivière au Printemps dress) and Albert Heymann, and had his statuettes published by the Mougin brothers, Daum and Parisian bronziers. He also produced numerous menus, programmes, vignettes, posters and book illustrations.

His submissions to the Paris and Nancy Salons since 1882 have earned him national recognition and led to numerous public and private commissions. He used large decorative panels to decorate the salle-des-fêtes of the town hall in the 11th arrondissement of Paris and the staircase of the Issy-les-Moulineaux town hall. With Émile Friant, he was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefecture, and in 1891 created twelve medallions symbolising the months of the year for the Nancy Town Hall. He painted the ceiling of the Caisse d'Épargne in Commercy and a large decorative canvas for the “La Lorraine” brasserie, depicting a number of Nancy personalities taking part in a Bacchus festival.

He revolutionised the art of bookbinding with Camille Martin and bookbinder René Wiener at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition in Paris in 1893, earning the Nancy School its first national and international recognition. The three artists created nine bindings combining ancient and modern techniques (leather mosaic, pyrography), in a new composition where a single scene illustrates the entire work. Victor Prouvé's Salammbô binding was purchased in 1894 to form part of the collections of the future Musée d'Art Décoratif de Nancy (officially created in 1900).

In 1898 he married Marie Duhamel, with whom he had seven children, including Jean and Henri Prouvé.

From 1919 to 1940, Victor Prouvé was director of the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, without abandoning a fruitful personal career. He produced ten panels on the theme of Lorraine's arts and industries, which were presented in the Nancy and Eastern France pavilion at the 1925 Decorative and Applied Arts Exhibition in Paris.

The twelve medallions symbolising the months of the year (Hôtel de Ville), the Croix de Bourgogne monument (place de la Croix de Bourgogne) and the sculptures in the Maison du Peuple (rue Drouin) can still be seen in Nancy.