Jack Firth was born in Edinburgh and trained at Edinburgh College of Art from 1935 - 40 studying under William Gilles, John Maxwell and William MacTaggart. After serving in WW2 he taught art in schools from 1946-63 and was part-time lecturer in drawing at Edinburgh College of art. Since 1982 he has been a full-time painter and writer with seventeen solo exhibitions and numerous group shows to his name. He is well known as an author having written two books on Scottish Painting and many articles and art books reviews.
His work is represented in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Aberdeen Art Gallery, The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh City Arts Centre and many corporate and private collections.