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Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone


Janet Grahame Johnstone (1 June 1928 – 1979) and Anne Grahame Johnstone (1 June 1928 – 25 May 1998) were twin sisters and British children's book illustrators best known for their delicate, detailed prolific artwork and for illustrating Dodie Smith's classic book The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

The twins were born in 1928 to successful British portraitist and costume designer Doris Zinkeisen and her husband, Captain Edward Grahame Johnstone. They attended the Heathfield School in Ascot, Berkshire during World War II; their artistic bent nurtured both at home and at school. Later, they attended Saint Martin's School of Art in London, where they studied period clothing styles before moving to Suffolk in 1966. The twins never married and would both live with their mother until their deaths (Zinkeisen died in 1991).

The Johnstone sisters' popularity took off in the early 1950s, when they were noticed by publishers and acquired a growing reputation as talented illustrators. They always worked together, passing drawings back and forth across their studio until both twins were satisfied with the final outcome. Janet specialized in animals and birds. Anne focused on the period costumes that so dominated their work. Because of their symbiotic collaboration, until the death of Janet in 1979, there was never a book illustrated under either one of their names alone.

The first important book the twins worked on was The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, who was already a very successful playwright and author. In 1956 she invited them to illustrate her first children's book, and it was an immediate success, captivating parents and children alike. Eventually, Smith's book was made into a feature-length animated film by Walt Disney.

The twins' further success with later Smith books, The Starlight Barking and The Midnight Kittens, made them the most widely recognized illustrators of children's books in England at the time. Their business association developed into an enduring friendship until Smith died in November 1990.


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