[1] He moved to Paris in 1940 where he befriended artists such as Picasso, Ernst, and Breton.
[2] The following year he met Leonor Fini and in 1943 when he was called back to Rome she went with him and stayed until the end of the World War II.
In 1946 they returned to Paris and Lepri abandoned his diplomatic career to become a painter.
[3] Shortly after Fabrizio Clerici introduced Fini to Polish writer Konstanty Jeleński, known as Kot, in Rome in 1952 Jeleński joined Fini and Lepri in their Paris apartment and the three remained inseparable until their deaths.
Among his various creations were the scenes for Voyage aux états de la Lune by Cyrano de Bergerac[6] and in 1950 the costumes for L'Armida in Florence for the Maggio Fiorentino.