[2] Turenne des Pres traveled and painted extensively between the islands, New York and throughout the South of France where he met his wife Marguerite Turenne Des Pres whose family introduced him to legendary French Impressionist Raoul Dufy who became his mentor, both in France and in New York where the couple finally settled in the mid 1950s.
His paintings have earned recognition from art aficionado Jonathan Demme (Academy Award-winning film director - 'Silence of the Lambs' and ‘Philadelphia’).
A dozen paintings by François Turenne des Pres are part of the permanent collection at the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles (CAAM),[5] alongside those of Hector Hyppolite, the most renowned of all Haitian artists.
[5] Turenne Des Pres’ legacy is also preserved in a collection of 12 folktales in a book "Children of Yayoute: Folk Tales of Haiti.
Collectors of Turenne des Pres’ artwork include legendary lyricist Bernie Taupin, Washington Post columnist Malia Jacobson, Grammy record producer Kamau Kenyatta, famed French attorneys Drujon D’Astros and numerous others all over the world.