Lucien Smith, an influential contemporary artist from New York who rose to fame with his “Rain Paintings” during the 2010s, died on Sept. 7. He was 37.

Smith’s death was confirmed by his friend Bill Powers, the owner of Half Gallery in Manhattan, The New York Times reported. Smith’s first solo exhibition in New York was held at the gallery in 2012, according to the newspaper.

No other details, including a cause of death, were disclosed.

Smith was born in Los Angeles in 1989 and was raised in New York City, USA Today reported.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cooper Union’s school of art in 2011. Smith’s thesis exhibition, “Imagined Nostalgia,” impressed art dealer Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, who began showing his work at New York art gallery Salon 94, according to the newspaper.

Smith was 24 when his 2011 painting “Hobbes, The Rain Man, and My Friend Barney/Under the Sycamore Tree,” a landscape painting inspired by an animated Winnie the Pooh movie, sold at a Phillips auction for $389,000, the Times reported.

The artist would become best known for his “Rain Paintings,” USA Today reported. The artwork was created by spraying paint from a fire extinguisher onto unprimed canvases, according to the newspaper.

In 2014, “Two Sides of the Same Coin,” sold for about $370,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in London, the Times reported.

Skarstedt Gallery, which exhibited Smith’s work, released a statement following his death, according to USA Today.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lucien Smith,” the gallery said. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time.”

After interest in his work declined in the late 2010s, Smith founded the nonprofit Serving the People, intended to support emerging talent in art, music and film, according to the newspaper.

Smith would eventually move away from New York City, heading east to Montauk on Long Island.

“I really want to stay out of the art world right now,” Smith said in an interview, according to the Times.

“Most artists spend their whole lives, you know, maturing during their work and maturing themselves and then get to a point of recognition,” Smith told Office in another interview. “I didn’t. I wasn’t able to have any of that. I wasn’t ever able to sit with work and decide if I liked it or not.”

During an interview with Kenny Schachter, Smith admitted he battled substance abuse during his career.

“I’m a chronic relapser. I shouldn’t drink or do drugs,” Smith said. “If you’re reading this, don’t give me drugs if you see me. Give me hugs.”

“Becoming famous in your early 20s in the art world is almost like being a child actor,” Powers said, according to the Times. “We watched you grow up in front of us. And take your lumps, too.”

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