{{Short description|Welsh artist and academic (1968–2016)}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox person | name = Rachel Owen | image = Photo of Rachel Owen by Nasir Hamid 2012.jpg | alt = | caption = Owen in 2012 | birth_name = Rachel Mary Owen | birth_date = 30 November 1968 | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2016|12|18|1968|11|30}} | birth_place = Cardiff, Wales | known_for = | spouse = {{marriage|Thom Yorke|2003|2015|end=sep}} | children = 2 | website = {{url|https://web.archive.org/web/20160131093636/http://www.rachel-owen.co.uk/maingallery.htm|rachel-owen.co.uk}} }}
'''Rachel Mary Owen''' (30 November 1968 – 18 December 2016) was a Welsh photographer, printmaker and lecturer on medieval Italian literature. She was married to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke; they announced their separation in 2015.
== Life and career == Owen was born in Cardiff, Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/marriage-secret-of-radiohead-star-and-the-woman-he-lost-to-cancer-97pt6lkql |title=Marriage secret of Radiohead star and the woman he lost to cancer |last=Gurpreet Narwan |first=Fariha Karim |date=2016-12-24 |website=The Times |language=en |access-date=2018-02-27}}</ref> She received a B.A. (Hons) in Italian and fine art (painting), specialising in printmaking, from the University of Exeter.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/content/art-exhibition-rachel-owen-inferno-illustrations |title=Art Exhibition 'Rachel Owen: The Inferno Illustrations' |website=www.pmb.ox.ac.uk |language=en |access-date=2018-02-27 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415213031/https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/content/art-exhibition-rachel-owen-inferno-illustrations |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the 1990s, she lived in Florence with two students and studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence, where she fell in love with Dante's work.<ref name="LaRepubblica-Feature-2012">{{cite news|last1=Paloscia|first1=Fulvio|title=Rachel, l'altra artista di casa Yorke "A Firenze mi innamorai di Dante"|url=http://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2012/09/23/news/rachel_l_altra_artista_di_casa_yorke_a_firenze_mi_innamorai_di_dante-43044420/?refresh_ce|work=la Repubblica|date=23 September 2012|location=Firenze|language=it}}</ref> In 2001, Owen received a PhD from the University of London, where her research was on the illustrations in manuscripts of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''.<ref name="Guardian-Obit-2016">{{cite news|last1=Slawson|first1=Nicola|title=Thom Yorke's ex-partner Rachel Owen dies at 48|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/20/thom-yorkes-ex-partner-rachel-owen-dies-at-48|work=The Guardian|date=20 December 2016}}</ref>
Owen was a lecturer in Italian with a focus on medieval Italian literature, where she examined illustration and its reception in ''Divine Comedy.''<ref name="Pembroke-Obit-2016">{{cite news|url=http://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/news/dr-rachel-owen-1968-2016|title=Dr Rachel Owen (1968–2016)|date=19 December 2016|work=Pembroke College, Oxford}}</ref> She taught art history and Dante studies for visiting students at the University of Oxford.<ref name="DanteOnView-ImageOfDante-2007">{{cite book|last1=Owen|first1=Rachel|last2=Calè|first2=Luisa|editor1-last=Braida|editor1-first=Antonella|title=Dante on View: The Reception of Dante in the Visual and Performing Arts|date=2007|publisher=Ashgate|location=London|isbn=978-0-7546-5896-2|pages=83–94|chapter=The Image of Dante, Poet and Pilgrim|oclc=83609616}}</ref>
Owen was also a fine-art printmaker<ref name="RachelOwen-Bio">{{cite web|title=Rachel Owen: Biography|url=http://www.rachel-owen.co.uk/Biography.htm|publisher=RachelOwen.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702225147/http://www.rachel-owen.co.uk/Biography.htm|archive-date=2 July 2008}}</ref> and a member of the Oxford Printmakers Co-operative.<ref name="Paste-Obit-2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/12/rachel-owen-dies-at-48.html|title=Dr. Rachel Owen: 1968–2016. Partner of Radiohead's Thom Yorke Was Accomplished Printmaker|last1=Ray|first1=Emily|date=20 December 2016|work=Paste}}</ref> She mixed photography with printmaking<ref name="Guardian-Obit-2016"/> and her work explored ideas of transformation using photographic screenprints.<ref name="OxfordPrintmakersCoOp-ArtistStatement">{{cite web|last1=Owen|first1=Rachel|title=Rachel Owen: Artist Statement|url=http://www.oxfordprintmakers.co.uk/portfolios/rachelowen.html|website=Oxford Printmakers Co-operative|access-date=20 December 2016|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012003935/http://www.oxfordprintmakers.co.uk/portfolios/rachelowen.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her artwork was used on the cover of the 1993 Radiohead single "Pop Is Dead"''.''{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
== Personal life == For 23 years, Owen was in a relationship with the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, whom she met while they were students at the University of Exeter.<ref name=ExitMusic-Radiohead-2012>{{cite book|last1=Randall|first1=Mac|title=Exit Music: The Radiohead Story|date=2012|publisher=Backbeat Books|location=Milwaukee, WI|isbn=978-1-458-47147-5|edition=Updated 4th|oclc=946707168}}</ref><ref name=RollingStone-Radiohead-InRainbow-2008>{{cite magazine|last1=Binelli|first1=Mark|title=The Future According to Radiohead: How they ditched the record business and still topped the charts|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-future-according-to-radiohead-20080207|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=7 February 2008}}</ref><ref name=Telegraph-Obit-2016>{{cite news|last1=Vincent|first1=Alice|title=Thom Yorke's ex-partner, Rachel Owen, dies aged 48|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/thom-yorkes-ex-partner-rachel-owen-dies-aged-48/|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 December 2016}}</ref> Their children, Noah and Agnes, were born in 2001 and 2004.<ref name=Guardian-ThomYorke-Politics-2006>{{cite news|last1=McLean|first1=Craig|title=Thom Yorke: 'It's not my job to do business with politicians'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/18/9|work=The Guardian|date=17 June 2006}}</ref> Owen influenced the lyrics of Radiohead songs such as "Optimistic" and "I Might Be Wrong", and Yorke's solo song "Atoms for Peace".<ref name="monsters">{{cite journal |last=Cavanagh |first=David |date=October 2000 |title=I Can See The Monsters |journal=Q |pages=96–104}}</ref><ref name="KENT">{{cite web |last=Kent |first=Nick |date=June 2001 |title=Happy now? |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=121 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206154836/https://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=121 |archive-date=6 February 2012 |access-date=27 March 2012 |work=Mojo |df=dmy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=23 February 2013 |title=Thom Yorke: 'If I can't enjoy this now, when do I start?' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/23/thom-yorke-radiohead-interview |access-date=28 March 2017 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In 2012, ''Rolling Stone'' reported that Owen and Yorke were unmarried.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|last=Fricke|first=David|author-link=David Fricke|date=26 April 2012|title=Radiohead reconnect|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317233858/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426|archive-date=17 March 2016|access-date=11 April 2016|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> However, ''The Times'' later found that they had married in a secret ceremony in Oxfordshire in May 2003.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/marriage-secret-of-radiohead-star-and-the-woman-he-lost-to-cancer-97pt6lkql|title=Marriage secret of Radiohead star and the woman he lost to cancer|last1=Narwan|first1=Gurpreet|date=24 December 2016|work=The Times|access-date=27 December 2016|last2=Karim|first2=Fariha}}</ref> In August 2015, the couple announced they had separated amicably "after 23 highly creative and happy years".<ref name="NME-Separation-2015">{{cite news|title=Thom Yorke and Rachel Owen announce separation|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/thom-yorke-13-1223272|work=NME|date=15 August 2015}}</ref> Several critics believed the separation influenced the lyrics of Radiohead's 2016 album ''A Moon Shaped Pool''.<ref name="OxfordMail-Obit-2016">{{cite news|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14977218.Tribute_paid_to_Dr_Rachel_Owen__artist__academic_and_former_partner_of_Radiohead_s_Thom_Yorke__who_has_died/|title=Tribute paid to Dr Rachel Owen, artist, academic and former partner of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, who has died|last1=Hughes|first1=Tim|date=20 December 2016|work=Oxford Mail}}</ref><ref name="RollingStone-Obit-2016">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dr-rachel-owen-former-partner-of-thom-yorke-dead-at-age-48-w456895|title=Dr. Rachel Owen, Former Partner of Thom Yorke, Dead at Age 48|last1=Leight|first1=Elias|date=20 December 2016|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref name="Pitchfork 5 Things">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1140-radioheads-a-moon-shaped-pool-the-5-most-important-things-to-know|title=Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool: The 5 Most Important Things To Know|last=Larson|first=Jeremy D.|date=9 May 2016|website=Pitchfork|access-date=9 May 2016}}</ref>
==Death== Owen died of cancer on 18 December 2016 at the age of 48.<ref name="Telegraph-Obit-2016" /> She continued to teach Italian into her final months.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/22/thom-yorke-ex-partners-death-desert-island-discs-rachel-owen|title=Thom Yorke: how I coped with ex-partner's death|last=Mohdin|first=Aamna|date=22 September 2019|work=The Observer|access-date=22 September 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> Radiohead dedicated the 2017 ''OKNOTOK'' reissue of their 1997 album ''OK Computer'' to her memory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2017/06/radiohead-thom-yorke-rachel-owen-ok-computer/|title=Radiohead's OKNOTOK Dedicated to Thom Yorke's Late Partner Rachel Owen|last1=Cook-Wilson|first1=Winston|date=22 June 2017|website=Spin|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref>
==Works== ===Books=== *''Rachel Owen: Illustrations for Dante's 'Inferno<nowiki>'</nowiki>''. Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2021. Edited by David Bowe. {{ISBN|978-1851245703}}.
=== Exhibitions === * 2015: Ballon Rouge Art, Thame, Oxfordshire, England, 7–15 November 2015<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://viveremilano.biz/2016/12/21/thom-yorkes-ex-partner-rachel-owen-loses-her-battle-with/ |title=Thom Yorke's Ex-Partner Rachel Owen Loses Her Battle With Cancer |website=viveremilano.biz |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101005827/http://viveremilano.biz/2016/12/21/thom-yorkes-ex-partner-rachel-owen-loses-her-battle-with/ |archive-date=2017-11-01}}</ref>
=== Papers === * {{cite thesis |last=Owen |first=Rachel Mary |date=2001 |title=Illuminated Manuscripts of Dante's Commedia (1330–1490) in Their Cultural and Artistic Context |type=PhD |publisher=Royal Holloway, University of London |oclc=556889838 |url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.392045 |url-access=registration }} * {{cite book|last1=Owen|first1=Rachel|last2=Calè|first2=Luisa|editor1-last=Braida|editor1-first=Antonella|title=Dante on View: The Reception of Dante in the Visual and Performing Arts|date=2007|publisher=Ashgate|location=London|isbn=978-0-7546-5896-2|pages=83–94|chapter=The Image of Dante, Poet and Pilgrim|oclc=83609616}} * {{cite journal|last1=Owen|first1=Rachel|editor1-last=Honess|editor1-first=Claire E.|title=Dante's Reception by 14th- and 15th-century Illustrators of the Commedia|journal=Reading Medieval Studies|year=2001|volume=XXVII|pages=163–225|url=https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2001-06_R._Owen,_Dante's_Reception_by_14th-_and_15th-century_Illustrators_of_the__Commedia.pdf|publisher=Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading|issn=0950-3129|isbn=978-0-704-91215-1|oclc=50612171}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Rachel}} Category:1968 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century Welsh women artists Category:21st-century Welsh women artists Category:Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:Artists from Cardiff Category:Deaths from cancer in England Category:Welsh printmakers Category:British women printmakers Category:20th-century Welsh photographers Category:21st-century Welsh photographers Category:Welsh women photographers Category:20th-century British women photographers Category:21st-century British women photographers