Johannes Zehngraf was born in Aalborg, Denmark, to the painter and photographer Christian Antoni Zehngraf. Johannes began his career in photography, studying under his father in Aalborg and Malmö, Sweden. His work re-touching photographs led him to develop an interest in miniature painting; this is the genre for which he later became known. He settled in Berlin in 1899 and counted the European and Russian royalty as his clients. Zehngraf also worked for Carl Peter Fabergé in St Petersburg, and painted the Art-Nouveau-styled Lily of the Valley Fabergé Egg, 1898.