# Luciana Arrighi

Luciana Maria Arrighi AM (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). 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. 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 (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 |
| Academy Awards | 1993 | Best Art Direction | Howards End | Won |
| Academy Awards | 1994 | Best Art Direction | The Remains of the Day | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | 2000 | Best Art Direction | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Art Directors Guild Awards | 2000 | Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Australian Film Institute Awards | 1979 | Best Achievement in Production Design | My Brilliant Career | Won |
| Australian Film Institute Awards | 1982 | Best Achievement in Costume Design | Starstruck | Nominated |
| Australian Film Institute Awards | 1998 | Best Achievement in Production Design | Oscar and Lucinda | Won |
| BAFTA Awards | 1970 | Best Art Direction | Women in Love | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | 1993 | Best Production Design | Howards End | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | 1996 | Best Production Design | Sense and Sensibility | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | 2003 | Best Production Design | The Gathering Storm | Won |
| Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists | 1993 | Best Production Design | Howards End | Won |
| Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists | 2000 | Best Production Design | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association | 1999 | Best Production Design | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2003 | Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | My House in Umbria | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2009 | Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Into the Storm | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | 2000 | Best Art Direction and Production Design | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association | 1999 | Best Production Design | Anna and the King | Nominated |
| Women's International Film & Television Showcase | 2016 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Luciana Arrighi | Won |