William Scott was born in 1913 in Greenock, Strathclyde in Scotland. Scott received first art lessons at the age of 14. He became familiar with artists such as Cézanne, Modigliani, Picasso, and Derain, who had an enormous influence on his early works. William Scott began studying at the Belfast College of Art in 1928, though he later went to the Royal Academy Schools in London. He concluded his studies in 1935. On an educational trip to the United States, he personally met such notable artists as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline. These contacts changed his style. Scott lectured at the Bath Academy of Art from 1941 until 1956. With his participation in the documenta exhibitions in Kassel in 1955, 1959, and 1964, the artist received much international renown. Scott was inducted into the Royal Academy in 1984. William Scott died on December 28, 1989, at the age of 76 in Bath.