Arthur Johnson was born in Germany in 1878. His father was American but he was brought up in Germany by his mother. He first contributed cartoons to Kladderadatsch in 1906. His style was very modern and looked more like the cartoons that appeared in Simplicissimus, the other major German satirical journal of the time.

Johnson's cartoons were accused of portraying his victims as grotesque. His style was used to good effect against the Allies during the First World War and opponents of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

Arthur Johnson died in 1954.