Alfred Bastien was a Post-Impressionist painter and watercolourist of landscapes, still lifes and portraits.

He was a student of Jean Delvin at the Academy of Ghent and a student of Jean Portaels at the Academy of Brussels. He went on a scholarship to Paris in 1891, where he won the Prix de Godecharle in 1897. Bastien visited numerous countries in Europe, North-Africa in 1897, the Belgian Congo in 1913, India, Japan, China and the islands of the South Pacific.

Alfred Bastien painted the panorama of Congo together with Paul Mathieu, Armand Apol and Philippe Swyncop in 1913 for the Universal Exhibition in Ghent.

Bastien was a teacher and director at the Academy of Brussels between 1927 and 1945. He was a founding member of the avant-garde group Le Sillon in 1893, as well as a member of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1952. He died in Uccle.

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