Juhana Blomstedt was born in 1937. His father was the architect Aulis Blomstedt and his mother was the ceramist Heidi Sibelius, daughter of Jean Sibelius. Blomstedt belonged to the second generation of Finnish modernists together with Tor Arne and Paul Osipow, among others. Of this group, he was the one who lived and worked abroad for the longest period. Blomstedt studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts from 1957 to 1961. Sam Vanni, who was one of his teachers, had a decisive influence on Blomstedt's conception of art.

Vanni also served as a gateway to Juhana Blomstedt's early interest in Kandinsky, Klee and Vasarely.