Adam Sherriff Scott was born in Perth, Scotland, in 1887, and began his art education in 1903 at the Edinburgh School of Art. His exceptional talent was recognized early when he was awarded the prestigious Allen-Fraser Scholarship, one of only ten students selected. This allowed him to continue his studies for four years at the Patrick Allen-Fraser School of Art, a finishing school for talented young artists, where he studied under George Harcourt, a Scottish-born artist known for his portraits. He subsequently continued his training at the Slade School of Art in London under the renowned teacher Henry Tonks, while also studying at the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery.

In 1912, Scott immigrated to Canada, initially settling with his parents in Brandon, Manitoba, before moving to Calgary, Alberta, where he remained for three years. During this period, he worked for an American patron who commissioned him to paint large scenes of the Canadian West for sale to real estate agents. In 1915, upon his patron's advice, Scott relocated to Montreal, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. He enlisted in the Canadian armed forces during World War I and returned in 1919 with the rank of acting captain.

In Montreal, Scott became associated with the Beaver Hall Hill Group, which formed around 1920 and included artists such as A.Y. Jackson, Robert Pilot, Edwin Holgate, Randolph Hewton, Lilias Torrance Newton, Anne Savage, Prudence Heward, Mabel May, and Nora Collyer. While the group was short-lived, lasting only until about 1922, it has since been recognized as a major art movement in Canada, notable for giving equal treatment to its ten women members. The Beaver Hall artists focused on urban life and its inhabitants with a modern, colorful style, distinguishing themselves from the wilderness-focused approach of the Group of Seven. Scott's own style, however, remained traditional rather than modernist.

Scott worked extensively as a portrait painter and muralist, accepting numerous commissions including posters for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Southam Press, and serving as the official painter for The Gazette in Montreal. During the 1920s, he spent six years living with the Inuit in Canada's North, painting scenes of their daily life that became among his best-known works. He also created historical paintings of Canada for Canadian Pacific, Royal Bank, and the Public Archives of Canada, including works about Champlain and portraits of Inuit subjects. Scott established the Adam Sherriff-Scott School of Fine Art, where he taught drawing and painting to many artists, including Jack Bush and Armand Tatossian. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1935 and achieved full membership in 1944. In the 1960s, he painted twenty murals depicting old Montreal for the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. Adam Sherriff Scott died in Montreal in 1980 at age 93.