Estella Louisa Michaela Canziani (12 January 1887 – 23 August 1964) was a British

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

and

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

painter, an

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

and a

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

Life and works

Born in London, Estella Canziani was the daughter of the painter

Louisa Starr Louisa Starr, later Louisa Canziani (1845–25 May 1909), was a British painter. Biography Starr was born in London and lived on Russell Square when she became a copyist at the British Museum.3 Palace Green, in the grounds of

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

. She trained as an artist, studying first at the 'Copernicus', a

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

school run by Sir Arthur Cope and

Erskine Nicol Erskine Nicol (3 July 1825 – 1904) was a Scottish figure and genre painter. Life He was born in Leith on 3 July 1825 the eldest son of James Main Nicol and his wife Margaret Alexander. His father rented a property on Lochend Road and worked ...

, then at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

schools. She exhibited at the RA London,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and France. Her most famous work was a water colour entitled ''The Piper of Dreams'', exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915. Reproductions of the work are said to have rivalled

Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

's '' The Light of the World'' in popularity. She travelled extensively throughout Europe, particularly in Italy. Her paintings document the clothes and lifestyle of the local people living in remote villages in Northern Italy. She also worked as a book

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

. She published three travel books: ''Costumes, Traditions and Songs of Savoy'' (1911), ''Piedmont'' (1913) and ''Through the Apennines and the Lands of the Abruzzi'' (1928), her writings gaining her membership of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. She published a number of articles in the journal of the

Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a national association in the United Kingdom for the study of folklore. It was founded in London in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts an ...

. She also published an autobiography: ''Round About Three Palace Green'' (1939). A large part of her collection is preserved in the

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...

. Canziani was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and member of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was formed in London in 1887 to promote the exhibition of decorative arts alongside fine arts. The Society's exhibitions were held annually at the New Gallery (London), New Gallery from 1888 to 1890, and roug ...

Society of Painters in Tempera The Society of Painters in Tempera was founded in 1901 by Christiana Herringham (1852–1929) and a group of British painters who were interested in reviving the art of tempera painting. Lady Herringham was an expert copyist of the Italian Old ...

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

, and the Folklore Society.

References

* Glenn Hooper, Tim Youngs, ''Perspectives on Travel Writing'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004 ,

External links

Estella Canziani biography and works
(Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery)

(Pitt Rivers Museum: England)
The Pearly Festival: Estella Canziani
(The Folklore Society) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canziani, Estella 1887 births 1964 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Artists from London British illustrators British Quakers English folklorists Women folklorists English travel writers British women travel writers Italian decorators Members of the Royal Society of British Artists English people of Italian descent