Frances-Anne Johnston

JOHNSTON, Frances-Anne (Mrs. Franklin Arbuckle)

1910-1987

Born in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of the late Franz Johnston (noted Cana­dian artist) and Florence Jamieson, she received her education at the North Toronto Collegiate and at the Ontario College of Art where she won two scholar­ships. She met her husband Franklin Arbuckle at the Ontario College of Art. They married five years later in 1934 after the worst part of depression had passed and settled down in Toronto. She was particularly interested in landscapes which she did very well but in 1937 her first daughter was born and she was no longer free to paint out-of-doors. She turned to painting interior studies and today is one of Canada’s most accomplished artists in this subject. For many years she was known for her Christmas cards and much later did a series of Canadian Wild Flower studies for Murray’s Restaurants which were reproduced as part of the decoration for the menus. Her husband was moved to Montreal in 1941 while an employee of Bomac Engravers’ and they lived there until 1958 when they returned to Toronto. Much of her time had been taken up with the raising of her two daughters and it was not until the last few years that she had been able to devote more of her time to painting. She exhibited, over the years, with the Royal Canadian Academy and with other societies. She was elected an A.R.C.A. in 1949 and R.C.A. about 1963. She is represented in a number of galleries including the Roberts Gallery (Toronto), the Eaton’s Fine Art Gallery (Toronto), Wallack Galleries, Ottawa.

Colin S. MacDonald

A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker
National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada