Lucien Smith, 37, Dies in Accidental Fentanyl and Oxycodone Overdose

By Elena Vasquez

Lucien Smith, 37, died in an accidental overdose of fentanyl and oxycodone, the New York City medical examiner’s office said on Thursday. The office classified his death as accidental.

Smith achieved early career success and became known for his “Rain Paintings,” The New York Times reported.

Bill Powers, founder of Half Gallery in Manhattan, said: “He was my first star.”

What happened on Sept. 7?

According to The New York Times, police received a call for a wellness check at an address in Manhattan’s Chinatown at around 8 p.m. on Sept. 7. Officers found Smith unconscious, unresponsive and lying face down next to a bed. Emergency medical workers pronounced him dead at the scene.

The New York City medical examiner’s office identified fentanyl and oxycodone as the substances involved. It classified the death as accidental.

The official record gives two drugs, one manner and one date: an accidental fentanyl and oxycodone overdose on Sept. 7.

What did Smith make before his death?

The New York Times reported that Smith created a new series of “Rain Paintings” shortly before he died, and the series is now on display at Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott, N.Y.

Powers said Smith held his first New York solo exhibition at Half Gallery in 2012. The Times called Smith a celebrated artist who found success early in his career. He became known for his “Rain Paintings.”

His first New York solo show came in 2012; the latest reported series was created shortly before his death.

What did his messages reveal?

Texts from Smith, dated weeks before his death and provided by Powers, depicted someone struggling. He described having “bad anxiety attacks” and being at a “low point.” He said he also felt “burnt out” from FOOD.

Powers said he last spoke with Smith at the end of August. At that time, Smith was five days sober, Powers said.

Powers said: “He was kind of like a son to me, or some people thought that I was a little bit of a father figure, in that way, to him.” He added that they had ascended the art-world ladder together.

The texts documented anxiety, a low point and burnout, while Powers recalled speaking with a sober Smith at the end of August.

How did his community remember him?

A makeshift memorial was set up outside FOOD in the weeks after Smith’s death, The New York Times reported. The Times described FOOD as a revived art-hub restaurant in Chinatown that Smith and chef Mathieu Canet opened last year.

Friends and family gathered for a memorial service in Montauk, on the tip of Long Island’s South Fork, where Smith lived and worked, according to the Times.

Two memorials marked his death: a makeshift site outside FOOD and a service in Montauk.

With the series now on view, Tripoli Gallery gives the public a continuing route into Smith’s work despite his death at 37.