Jonathan Hartley Folliott Scott was born in England on October 30, 1914 and he studied at the Heatherly School in London, England, Heymann School in Munich, Germany, Academie di Bella Arti in Florence, Italy, and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. After many years of art education and experience he settled in Pasadena not long after his marriage to Virginia Steele in 1938. Virginia Steele's collection of American art is kept at the Huntington Art Gallery in San Marina, California.

In 1964 Scott moved to Taos, New Mexico where he stayed until his death on January 16, 1995. He was a member of Laguna Beach Art Association.