Art World Mourns Jean-François Leroy, Lucien Smith, and Jibby Beane

The art community mourns the passing of three significant individuals: Jean-François Leroy, a French photographer, Lucien Smith, an American artist, and Jibby Beane, a British gallerist. Leroy, who passed away at 70 in 2026, was a co-founder and director of the renowned photojournalism festival Visa Pour l'Image, which showcased global crises and environmental issues while advancing photographers' careers. He also served as a photographer and was the editor of Photo Magazine during the late 1980s. Smith, who died at 37, was a prominent figure in New York's downtown art scene and created the Rain Paintings series (2011–12). In 2017, he established Serving the People, a nonprofit for artist discussions in major cities. Beane, who also died in 2026, was a celebrated British gallerist and fashion icon, known for her modeling work with Vivienne Westwood and for founding a home gallery in 1994 that nurtured emerging talents like Martin Creed. These tributes appeared in Hyperallergic’s weekly In Memoriam section, recognizing recent losses in the art world.