Torsten Gideon Wasastjerna (17 December 1863 – 1 July 1924) was a Finnish painter. Wasastjerna started his studies in 1883 at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki The Academy of Fine Arts (; ) in Helsinki, Finland is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and provides the highest university-level theoretical and practical training in the country in fine arts. Academy The Academy was founded in 184 ...

under Adolf von Becker, spent 1885 – 1888 in

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and after that four winters in

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. During his stay in Paris he painted a number of paintings distinguished by their use of colour, for example ''French Women Ironing'' (1889, Ateneum) which has clear

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

influences. Similar pieces from this time are ''From Luxembourg Gardens'' and ''Place de la Concorde'' (1890). With the rise of

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in the 1890s Wasastjerna started painting bigger works, often focused on fairy tale motifs. His later output included prints, pastels and a number of portraits. He also turned his hand to writing, with a collection of poems, a play, and even a polemic entitled ''Art’s Friends and Enemies'' (1902). Over 40 of Wasastjerna's works are included in the collections of the Finnish National Gallery, many of which on display at the Ateneum museum.

References

19th-century Finnish painters 20th-century Finnish painters Finnish portrait painters 19th-century Finnish poets 20th-century Finnish poets Finnish dramatists and playwrights 1863 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Finnish nobility {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasastjerna, Torsten Artists from Helsinki