Cecil Pinsent
Encyclopedia
Cecil Ross Pinsent FRIBA
(1884 - 5 December 1963) was a British
architect and garden designer noted for his Tuscan villas and gardens. Pinsent and his friend Geoffrey Scott, when touring Tuscany, met the American art historian Bernard Berenson
. Berenson employed Scott as his librarian, and Pinsent assisted with work on the Villa I Tatti
. Through Berenson, Pinsent gained access to a rich clientele, drawn from the English-speaking community in Tuscany. His clients included: Charles Augustus Strong; Alice Keppel
; Lady Sybil Cutting and her daughter, the novelist Iris Origo
.
Gardens designed by Pinsent include those at; Villa Capponi, Villa I Tatti
, Villa La Foce
and Villa Le Balze
.
Pinsent was been born in Montevideo
, Uruguay
the son of Ross and Alice Pinsent; his English father was a River Plate Merchant.
Pinsent died in Hilterfingen
, Switzerland
on 5 December 1963.
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
(1884 - 5 December 1963) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
architect and garden designer noted for his Tuscan villas and gardens. Pinsent and his friend Geoffrey Scott, when touring Tuscany, met the American art historian Bernard Berenson
Bernard Berenson
Bernard Berenson was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. He was a major figure in pioneering art attribution and therefore establishing the market for paintings by the "Old Masters".-Personal life:...
. Berenson employed Scott as his librarian, and Pinsent assisted with work on the Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a research institute in Florence, Italy.-History:Villa I Tatti is located on an estate of olive groves, vineyards and gardens on the border of Florence and Fiesole...
. Through Berenson, Pinsent gained access to a rich clientele, drawn from the English-speaking community in Tuscany. His clients included: Charles Augustus Strong; Alice Keppel
Alice Keppel
Alice Frederica Keppel, née Edmonstone was a British socialite and the most famous mistress of Edward VII, the eldest son of Queen Victoria. Her formal style after marriage was The Hon. Mrs George Keppel. Her daughter, Violet Trefusis, was the lover of poet Vita Sackville-West...
; Lady Sybil Cutting and her daughter, the novelist Iris Origo
Iris Origo
Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa of Val d'Orcia, DBE , née Cutting, was an Anglo-Irish writer, who devoted much of her life to the improvement of the Tuscan estate at La Foce, near Montepulciano, which she purchased with her husband in the 1920s.-Origins and upbringing:Origo was the daughter of...
.
Gardens designed by Pinsent include those at; Villa Capponi, Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti
Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a research institute in Florence, Italy.-History:Villa I Tatti is located on an estate of olive groves, vineyards and gardens on the border of Florence and Fiesole...
, Villa La Foce
La Foce
La Foce is a large estate that lies close to the towns of Montepulciano, Chiusi, and Chianciano Terme in the Southern Tuscan region of Val d'Orcia. Centered around a 15th Century villa, the estate was restored by Iris Origo and Antonio Origo in the 1920s. The gardens are designed by the English...
and Villa Le Balze
Villa Le Balze
Villa Le Balze is a garden villa in Fiesole, Tuscany, central Italy. The Villa is owned by Georgetown University and hosts year round study abroad students. Planned in 1911 by Cecil Pinsent for American Charles Augustus Strong, it was built in a tight space along the Tuscan hills overlooking the...
.
Pinsent was been born in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
the son of Ross and Alice Pinsent; his English father was a River Plate Merchant.
Pinsent died in Hilterfingen
Hilterfingen
Hilterfingen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-Geography:Hilterfingen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 8.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 48.2% is forested...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on 5 December 1963.
Other sources
- M. Fantoni, H. Flores and J. Pfordresher eds. (1999) Cecil Pinsent and his gardens in Tuscany, Edifir, Florence ISBN8879700790.
- Ethne Clarke (1998) A Biography of Cecil Ross Pinsent, 1884-1963, Garden History Vol. 26, No. 2 Winter, pp. 176-191