《Narcisse》 1955

《Narcisse》 (1955, art book No. 9) is Iwata's art college graduation work. At first glance, this work by Iwata also seems to be a graduation work, with motifs from his time at Tokyo University of the Arts, such as trees, the entrance to the building at the end of the stairs, clouds, and flowers. It is also a work that makes you feel the drama that goes beyond “the culmination of study”.

However, it seems that Iwata's original idea for his graduation work was in a different form. Two self-portraits that preceded this work were found in the “Eikichi Iwata Art Collection”, and it is thought that these works are more in line with the original concept. The costume and the interior are characteristic, but above all, the angle and expression of his own face are familiar to the self-portrait that precedes them, and he follows the pattern of self-portrait in which the viewer and the gaze match.

On the other hand, 《Narcisse》 is a work that if you look at it without any prior knowledge, you might not realize that it is a self-portrait. The full-body image is slightly seated, and the line of sight tends to face the lower left corner of the screen, The title does not include the word “self-portrait”, just “Narcissus”. And the self-portrait in this pose will be drawn in self-portrait works after this work.

Why did Iwata change his graduation self-portrait from his original conception? Iwata's 《Narcisse》 looks down at the surface of the water without being drawn into it. Considering that Narcissus is not a person who loves himself blindly, but a person who has the tragedy of being unable to find anything else to love other than himself, the theme of this work could be regarded as a self-portrait of his soul in the era that has drifted through the depths of destruction caused by war.