Scott was born in Indianapolis in 1884.
 After graduating from Manual Training High School in 1903, Scott spent a year studying drawing under Otto Stark.
In 1904 he moved to Chicago and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he won the Frederick Mangus Brand prize for pictorial composition.
During his time in Chicago he painted murals around the city, one of which was Commerce, which is still lauded today as "remarkable".
He learned much of his palette and impressionist technique, however, during his travels to France.
 While abroad he studied at Académie Julien and Académie Colarossi and was mentored by Henry O. Tanner, a famous African-American artist who moved to Paris to avoid racial prejudice against his art.
Training in Paris, Scott was able to build a reputation for himself more easily than his race would have allowed in America.
Perhaps because of this, he seemed to be more conservative in his portrayals of the "New Negro" than others in the movement, and sometimes painted scenes that had nothing to do with race at all.
During the years 1910–14, for example, he occasionally visited his former teacher at the Etaples art colony and while there painted local scenes such as the atmospheric Rainy Night at Étaples and others under Tanner's influence.

After his formal education was complete, Scott received a Rosenwald Foundation grant and traveled to Haiti to paint those who had "maintained their African heritage".
Later he traveled to Alabama to study blacks in different communities in the South.
By refusing to paint blacks as only slaves and laborers (as so many before him had), Scott hoped to "reverse the stereotypical perceptions of African Americans and eventually foster an understanding among the races".
When he returned to Chicago, Scott continued with that goal as he portrayed "blacks on canvas in positions of prominence doing noble deeds" throughout the portraits and murals he created for the rest of his life.
Scott was born in Indianapolis in 1884.  After graduating from Manual Training High School in 1903, Scott spent a year studying drawing under Otto Stark. In 1904 he moved to Chicago and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he won the Frederick Mangus Brand prize for pictorial composition. During his time in Chicago he painted murals around the city, one of which was Commerce, which is still lauded today as "remarkable". He learned much of his palette and impressionist technique, however, during his travels to France.  While abroad he studied at Académie Julien and Académie Colarossi and was mentored by Henry O. Tanner, a famous African-American artist who moved to Paris to avoid racial prejudice against his art. Training in Paris, Scott was able to build a reputation for himself more easily than his race would have allowed in America. Perhaps because of this, he seemed to be more conservative in his portrayals of the "New Negro" than others in the movement, and sometimes painted scenes that had nothing to do with race at all. During the years 1910–14, for example, he occasionally visited his former teacher at the Etaples art colony and while there painted local scenes such as the atmospheric Rainy Night at Étaples and others under Tanner's influence.
After his formal education was complete, Scott received a Rosenwald Foundation grant and traveled to Haiti to paint those who had "maintained their African heritage". Later he traveled to Alabama to study blacks in different communities in the South. By refusing to paint blacks as only slaves and laborers (as so many before him had), Scott hoped to "reverse the stereotypical perceptions of African Americans and eventually foster an understanding among the races". When he returned to Chicago, Scott continued with that goal as he portrayed "blacks on canvas in positions of prominence doing noble deeds" throughout the portraits and murals he created for the rest of his life.
William Edouard Scott