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 Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

singer Thom Yorke; they announced their separation in 2015.

Life and career

Owen was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales. She received a B.A. (Hons) in Italian and fine art (painting), specialising in printmaking, from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. In the 1990s, she lived in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

with two students and studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence, where she fell in love with Dante's work. In 2001, Owen received a PhD from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, where her research was on the illustrations in manuscripts of Dante Alighieri's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

''. Owen was a lecturer in Italian with a focus on medieval Italian literature, where she examined illustration and its reception in ''Divine Comedy.'' She taught art history and Dante studies for visiting students at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Owen was also a fine-art printmaker and a member of the Oxford Printmakers Co-operative. She mixed photography with printmaking and her work explored ideas of transformation using photographic screenprints. Her artwork was used on the cover of the 1993

single " Pop Is Dead"''.''

Personal life

For 23 years, Owen was in a relationship with the

singer Thom Yorke, whom she met while they were students at the

. She and Yorke had a son, Noah, born in 2001, and a daughter, Agnes, born in 2004. Owen influenced the lyrics of Radiohead songs such as " Optimistic" and "I Might Be Wrong", and Yorke's solo song "Atoms for Peace". In 2012, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' reported that Owen and Yorke were unmarried. However, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' later found that they had married in a secret ceremony in Oxfordshire in May 2003. In August 2015, the couple announced they had separated amicably "after 23 highly creative and happy years". Several critics believed the separation influenced the lyrics of Radiohead's 2016 album '' A Moon Shaped Pool''.

Death

Owen died of cancer on 18 December 2016 at the age of 48. She continued to teach Italian into her final months. Radiohead dedicated the 2017 '' OKNOTOK'' reissue of their 1997 album '' OK Computer'' to her memory.

Works

Books

*''Rachel Owen: Illustrations for Dante's 'Inferno'''. Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2021. Edited by David Bowe. .

Exhibitions

* 2015: Ballon Rouge Art, Thame, Oxfordshire, England, 7–15 November 2015

Papers

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Rachel 1968 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Welsh women artists 21st-century Welsh women artists Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the University of Exeter Artists from Cardiff Deaths from cancer in England Welsh printmakers British women printmakers 20th-century Welsh photographers 21st-century Welsh photographers Welsh women photographers 20th-century British women photographers 21st-century British women photographers