Luciana Arrighi

Luciana Maria Arrighi AM (born 1940) is an Australian and Italian^[3] production designer. In 1993, she won an Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film Howards End (1992).^[4] 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).^[5]

Luciana Arrighi
Born	1940 (age 84–85) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil[1][2]
Citizenship	Australia Italy
Occupation	Production designer
Years active	1965–present
Spouse	Rupert Chetwynd ​ ​ (m. 1970; died 2021)​
Children	2; including Monster Chetwynd

Career

Luciana Arrighi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1940,^[2][1] 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);^[6] over the course of their long friendship they claimed "cousinhood".^[1] 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.^[6][1]

Arrighi left Brazil with her parents when she was two years old and was raised and educated in Australia,^[2] studying at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School).^[7] 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).^[3]

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.^[3] She lived in Paris for two years and was a model for French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.^[3][8]

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.^[5]

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.^[9][10] They had a son, Aaron, and daughter, Alalia, the artist Monster Chetwynd.^[11][12] Arrighi splits her time between London and France.^[3]

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 (film) (1991), director Stephen Poliakoff
• Howards End (film) (1992), director James Ivory
• The Innocent (1993), director John Schlesinger
• The Remains of the Day (film) (1993), director James Ivory
• Only You (1994 film) (1994), director Norman Jewison
• Sense and Sensibility (film) (1995), director Ang Lee
• Surviving Picasso (1996), director James Ivory
• Victory (1996 film) (1996), director Mark Peploe
• Oscar and Lucinda (film) (1997), director Gillian Armstrong
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film) (1999), director Michael Hoffman
• Jakob the Liar (1999)
• Anna and the King (1999), director Andy Tennant
• The Gathering Storm (2002 film) (2002), TV, director Richard Loncraine
• The Importance of Being Earnest (2002 film) (2002), director Oliver Parker
• Possession (2002 film) (2002), director Neil LaBute
• My House in Umbria (2003), TV, director Richard Loncraine
• Being Julia (2004), director István Szabó
• Fade to Black (2006 film) (2006), director Oliver Parker
• Into the Storm (2009 film) (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	Ref.
Academy Awards	1993	Best Art Direction	Howards End	Won	[4]
	1994		The Remains of the Day	Nominated	[13]
	2000		Anna and the King	Nominated	[14]
Art Directors Guild Awards	2000	Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film		Nominated	[15]
Australian Film Institute Awards	1979	Best Achievement in Production Design	My Brilliant Career	Won	[16]
	1982	Best Achievement in Costume Design	Starstruck	Nominated	[17]
	1998	Best Achievement in Production Design	Oscar and Lucinda	Won	[17]
BAFTA Awards	1970	Best Art Direction	Women in Love	Nominated	[17]
	1993	Best Production Design	Howards End	Nominated	[17]
	1996		Sense and Sensibility	Nominated	[17]
	2003		The Gathering Storm	Won	[5]
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	1993	Best Production Design	Howards End	Won	[18]
	2000		Anna and the King	Nominated	[19]
Online Film & Television Association	1999	Best Production Design		Nominated	[20]
Primetime Emmy Awards	2003	Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	My House in Umbria	Nominated	[21]
	2009		Into the Storm	Nominated	[21]
Satellite Awards	2000	Best Art Direction and Production Design	Anna and the King	Nominated	[22]
Online Film & Television Association	1999	Best Production Design		Nominated	[23]
Women's International Film & Television Showcase	2016	Lifetime Achievement Award	Luciana Arrighi	Won	[24]

Notes