{{Short description|Finnish painter (1863–1924)}}

{{Infobox artist | name = Torsten Wasastjerna | image = Jakob Ljungqvist - Portrait photograph of Torsten Wasastjerna.jpg | alt = A head and shoulders photo portrait of a forty something man, with a broad pointy moustache and long goatee bread, wearing a white scarf, facing to the left | birth_name = Torsten Gideon Wasastjerna | birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|12|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1924|7|1|1863|12|17}} | death_place = Helsinki, Finland }}

'''Torsten Gideon Wasastjerna''' (17 December 1863 – 1 July 1924) was a Finnish painter.<ref name="kb">{{cite web |title=Wasastjerna, Torsten (1863-1924) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/4157 |website=Kansallisbiografia.fi |publisher=National Biography of Finland |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=fi}}</ref>

Wasastjerna started his studies in 1883 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki under Adolf von Becker, spent 1885 – 1888 in Düsseldorf and after that four winters in Paris.<ref name="Kruskopf">{{cite web |last1=Kruskopf |first1=Erik |title=Wasastjerna, Torsten |url=https://www.uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-170045-WasastjernaTorsten |website=Uppslagsverket Finland |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=Swedish}}</ref> During his stay in Paris he painted a number of paintings distinguished by their use of colour, for example ''French Women Ironing'' (1889, Ateneum)<ref>{{cite web |title=French Women Ironing, 1889 |url=https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/en/object/412488 |website=Ateneum |access-date=4 February 2024}}</ref> which has clear impressionist influences. Similar pieces from this time are ''From Luxembourg Gardens'' and ''Place de la Concorde'' (1890). With the rise of symbolism in the 1890s Wasastjerna started painting bigger works, often focused on fairy tale motifs.<ref name="Kruskopf"/> 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).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wasastjerna |first1=Torsten |title=Konstens Vänner och Fiender |date=1902 |publisher=Söderströms & Co Förlagsaktiebolag |language=Swedish}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Collections: Wasastjerna (search results) |url=https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/fi/search?searchTerms%5B%5D=Wasastjerna |publisher=Kansallisgalleria (National Gallery) |access-date=4 April 2024 |language=fi}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

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