Luciana Maria Arrighi (born 1940) is an Australian and Italian production designer. In 1993, she won an Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film Howards End (1992). She also earned two more Oscar nominations in the same category for The Remains of the Day (1993) in 1994, and Anna and the King (1999) in 2000. In 2003, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Art Direction for the television film The Gathering Storm (2002).
Career Luciana Arrighi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1940, daughter of Italian diplomat and former journalist Count Ernesto Arrighi, and Australian Eleanor ("Nellie"), daughter of grazier Douglas Cox. Nellie had been a showgirl with J.C. Williamson Ltd, and later a model for Schiaparelli in Paris, and was distantly related by marriage to the novelist Patrick White (her paternal grandfather's sister was married to Patrick White's great-uncle); over the course of their long friendship they claimed "cousinhood". Ernesto Arrighi was appointed consul at Melbourne in 1937, and met Nellie on a visit to Sydney. They married in 1939, and Ernesto was posted to Rio de Janeiro, where Luciana, their first child, was born. The family returned to Rome in 1943 before going to Nice on the French Riviera, and after the surrender of Italy to the Allies Ernesto was imprisoned by the Germans for "high treason" in 1943. On his release, he was given a diplomatic posting to Sydney, his wife and two daughters going ahead of him, but he died suddenly before being able to join them.
Arrighi left Brazil with her parents when she was two years old and was raised and educated in Australia, studying at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School)."30 Women You Should Know About", Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1998, Good Weekend, p. 16 She went to the United Kingdom, where she worked for the BBC; she was spotted by Ken Russell, who used her talents in some of his early films such as Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966) and Women in Love (1969).
She went on to study painting in Italy and she has also worked in costume design in theatre and opera, including with Vienna State Opera, Opera Australia and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. She lived in Paris for two years and was a model for French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
In 1993, Arrighi received the Silver Ribbon for Best Production Design Award and the Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film Howards End directed by James Ivory. She was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film The Remains of the Day (1993), also by James Ivory, and Anna and the King (1999) by Andy Tennant. She won the British BAFTA Award for Best Art Direction for the television film The Gathering Storm (2002), directed by Richard Loncraine.
Personal life In 1970, Arrighi married Captain Rupert Milo Talbot Chetwynd (1934–2021), of the Grenadier Guards and 21st SAS Regiment, later an adventurer and founder of a medical mission to Afghanistan. He was a descendant of the 6th Viscount Chetwynd. They had a son, Aaron, and daughter, Alalia, the artist Monster Chetwynd.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 769 Arrighi splits her time between London and France.
Her French-born sister Niké Arrighi (1944–2025) was a visual artist and actress.
Filmography Production design Scenographer:
Monitor (1965), director David Jones, 1 episode Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966), TV, director Ken Russell Omnibus (1967), 1 episode Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), director John Schlesinger The Night the Prowler (1978), director Jim Sharman My Brilliant Career (1979), director Gillian Armstrong The Return of the Soldier (1982), director Alan Bridges Privates on Parade (1983), director Michael Blakemore The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), director Richard Eyre Mrs. Soffel (1984), director Gillian Armstrong Madame Sousatzka (1988), director John Schlesinger The Rainbow (1989), director Ken Russell Bye Bye Columbus (1991), TV, director Peter Barnes Close My Eyes (1991), director Stephen Poliakoff Howards End (1992), director James Ivory The Innocent (1993), director John Schlesinger The Remains of the Day (1993), director James Ivory Only You (1994), director Norman Jewison Sense of Sensibility (1995), director Ang Lee Surviving Picasso (1996), director James Ivory Victory (1996), director Mark Peploe Oscar and Lucinda (1997), director Gillian Armstrong A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), director Michael Hoffman Jakob the Liar (1999), director Peter Kassovitz Anna and the King (1999), director Andy Tennant The Gathering Storm (2002), TV, director Richard Loncraine The Importance of Being Ernest (2002), director Oliver Parker Possession (2002), director Neil LaBute My House in Umbria (2003), TV, director Richard Loncraine Being Julia (2004), director István Szabó Fade to Black (2006), director Oliver Parker Into the Storm (2009), TV, director Thaddeus O'Sullivan From Time to Time (2009), director Julian Fellowes Singularity (2013), director Roland Joffé Angelica (2015), director Mitchell Lichtenstein
Costume design Starstruck (2010 film) (1982) Privates on Parade (1983) The Ploughman's Lunch (1983) Un ballo in maschera (1989), TV
Set and production design Women in Love (1969), director Ken Russell
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominated work Result Academy Awards 1993Best Art Direction Howards End 1994 The Remains of the Day 2000Anna and the King Art Directors Guild Awards 2000 Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film Australian Film Institute Awards 1979 Best Achievement in Production Design My Brilliant Career 1982 Best Achievement in Costume Design Starstruck 1998 Best Achievement in Production Design Oscar and Lucinda British Academy Film Awards 1970 Best Art Direction Women in Love 1993Best Production Design Howards End 1996 Sense and Sensibility British Academy Television Craft Awards 2003 Best Production Design The Gathering Storm Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1993Best Production Design Howards End 2000Anna and the King Online Film & Television Association 1999 Best Production Design Primetime Emmy Awards 2003Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special My House in Umbria 2009 Into the Storm Satellite Awards 2000 Best Art Direction and Production DesignAnna and the King Online Film & Television Association 1999 Best Production Design Women's International Film & Television Showcase 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award Luciana Arrighi
Notes
References
External links Luciana Arrighi's official site