The sculptors of the Group of Nine were students of the artists who had earlier constituted the Bande à Schnegg: Charles Despiau (1874-1946), François Pompon (1855-1933), Jane Poupelet (1878-1951), Lucien (1864-1909) and Gaston (1866-1953) Schnegg, Robert Wlérick (1882-1944) ... They had all worked in or around Auguste Rodin’s studio and had assimilated his fundamental principles: contact with nature and the rigorous organization of planes. And yet they distanced themselves from the work of the exalted master through their determination to attain their ideal of calm, serenity, and simplicity. Critics called these sculptors the Bande à Schnegg (Schnegg’s Gang) after their apparent leader, Lucien Schnegg. This label underscored their quality of “going against the grain” as, at the time, the term “bande” was usually applied only to anarchists. The preferred subject for these sculptors was the human figure, and this preference gave rise to the independent sculpture movement. Their focus on the human figure constituted a perpetual act of resistance to the standards of the Academy and to the pressures of “official” modernity.

As such, the members of the Group of Nine were, in effect, the second generation of independent sculpture, defending their inherited values and pursuing the projects begun by their masters.

The group’s first exhibition opened on January 29, 1964, at the Galerie Vendôme in Paris (fig. 1). Their works were presented alongside those of their “invitees”—young sculptors chosen to compete for the Émile Godard Prize and who were considered capable of furthering the cause of figurative sculpture: Charles Auffret (1929-2001), René Babin (1919-1997), Gudmar Olovson (1936-2017), and Françoise Salmon (1917-2014), among others. Charles Auffret won the prize for his Femme à la toilette (Woman at her Toilette) (fig. 2). This recognition launched his artistic career, which included works such as La Méditation (1965), Les Amoureux d’Ouessant (1980), L’Étreinte (1990), and Le grand Saint-Joseph(1990), and opened up a teaching position for him at the École des Beaux-Arts in Reims. 

Despite this first exhibition, the Group of Nine remained largely unknown to the general public. Pierre Cabanne, who interviewed the members in February of 1964 (Pierre Cabanne, “Les Neuf” (“The Nine”), Le Journal des Arts, February 11, 1964.), tried to find an explanation, asking “Is it because you’re classical?” Jean Carton responded, saying “No, it’s because we’re not supported.” Marcel Damboise then suggested, “Perhaps it’s because we’re not classical,” and Paul Cornet added, ironically, “Me, I’m known—I won the Prix National des Arts.” The lack of public recognition also had a lot to do with the response of the State, which supported official art, which, at the time, was abstract art. When asked how many commissions he’d gotten from the State, Raymond Martin replied, “The State has hired me to teach young people, and through that, it helps me and gives me the peace of mind that I need in order to do the work that I want to do. But as far as commissions go, I’ve been asked to do a few monuments, but you can count them on your fingers. Marcel Damboise, unlike sculptors such as Jean Carton and Jean Osouf, did receive some commissions, as did Paul Cornet, thanks to the “1% for Art” program. These artists were not discouraged, though, and saw the situation rather as a stimulus, underscoring their role as “part of the tradition of living art, which always goes against popular opinion and that of the State.”.

Carton worked from his first master’s lessons, Charles Malfray and Robert Wlérick, and from Rembrandt’s works. He excelled at portraits, like those of René Coty and François Mitterrand, which he made at their request. In 1943 he started creating his first etchings, and two were bought by Picasso.

A number of galleries showed his works, the most faithful one being the Galerie Bernier. In 1946 he received the Blumenthal prize, awarded by Germaine Richier, Marcel Gimond and Robert Couturier, and in 1949, he was given a residency at the Abd-el-Tif Villa in Alger, where he stayed for three years. A year prior to his death, his sculpture Marie-Christine standing was placed in the French Senate House foyer.

Cornet’s art is touched by human and sensitive aspects. He was interested in the works of Rodin, Maillol and Despiau. He showed his works at the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Tuileries. He received the Sculpture Grand Prize in 1932 for Naked woman sitting, and, the same year, the Galerie Bernier organized a monographic exhibition in his honor. After that, he evolved towards an art with ampler proportions as illustrated by Pomona or Venus and Amour, made for an alcove at the Meuron Orangerie (circa 1942). He also received a commission for a large sculpture at the Chaillot Palace in 1937, another for the Panthéon and the Saint Thomas d’Aquin church (circa 1942). Between 1954 and 1955 he made the Tulle Memorial, commemorating victims of the Second World War. Towards the end of his life, he was given the Wildenstein prize (1967) and the Paul-Louis Weiller prize (1972).

Corbin is considered one of the most important French medalists. Student of Henri Dropsy at the National School of Fine Arts, whom he succeeded as a medal engraver professor in 1955. In 1936 he got the Blumenthal Prize. A few years later, in 1969, he was the first laureate of the Germain Pilon Prize for his entire work, which included medals, currencies, sculptures, and watercolors. The Paris Mint organized two retrospectives: one in 1971 and the other in 1986. In 1988, the Bavarian State Coin Collection celebrated the artist with another retrospective.

Damboise, from his arrival in Paris in 1926 onwards, participated in several exhibitions and fairs, like the Salon des Tuileries, the Painting and Sculpture biennale in Cachan, and the Salon des Indépendants where he met Paul Cornet, Charles Despiau, Aristide Maillol and Charles Malfray who became his spiritual masters. From 1932 to 1935 he stayed at the Abd-el-Tif villa in Algeria where he made the Foundouk Monument.

He received a number of public orders, for example in 1974 a stone Elie Faure Bust for a commemorative monument in Périgueux, for which he was awarded the memory prize of Périgord by the Letters and Art Academy. The French Institute prized him with the Wildenstein and the Paul-Louis Weiller prizes in 1971 and 1982.

Indenbaum arrived in Paris in 1911 and settled in a studio at the Ruche residence, where he met Modigliani, Soutine, Kremègne, Chagall and other artists of the School of Paris. He started working under Emile-Antoine Bourdelle and in 1912, showed his works at the Salon des Indépendants. For Jacques Doucet, his first benefactor, Indenbaum made a number of decorative panels.
During the war, Indenbaum hid and a number of his works were destroyed.
In 1968, he was awarded the Wildenstein prize by the French Institute.

Kretz arrived in Paris in 1931 thanks to a scholarship and frequented the Landowski-Gaumont studio at the Fine Arts School, as well as the Bourdelle workshop at the Grande Chaumière Academy. His most famous works are the Liberation Monument of Crest (Drôme), the Archbishopric Fountain in the Notre-Dame square and several medals for the Paris Mint, like those representing Georges Auric. He also participated in several events (Salon d’Automne, Salon des Tuileries) and exhibitions (“the contemporary French sculpture, from Rodin to today”). His first personal exhibition took place at the Simonson and the Pierre Loeb galleries. He received a number of prizes, including the Viking prize in 1951.

After academic studies, he started exhibiting regularly at the Salon des Tuileries, starting in 1927. In 1932, he showed his works at the Galerie Paquereau, as well as the Salon d’Automne and was given the Blumenthal prize. His more intimate creations, based on drawings and the relationship with the model are accompanied by important commissions from the French State like the Esquestrian Statue of the Maréchal Foch (1936-1951) at the center of the Trocadéro square, as well as the monument for the Général Mangin (1950-1954) next to the Saint François Xavier church, and the Général Leclerc monument (1965-1969) at the Porte d’Orléans. In 1973 the Tunisian State ordered an equestrian statue of president Habib Bourguiba.

The Galliera Museum and the Paris Mint both organized retrospectives in 1960 and 1985.

Nilsson focused his practice solely on sculpture from 1927 on, and during his career, he exhibited in Paris, Stockholm, New York, Nice, Bordeaux and Gothenburg.

He was a member of the Royal Swedish Fine Arts Academy, a member of the French Institute as well as an honorary member of the Lund University in Sweden. What’s more, he was given the French Legion of Honor, made officer of the Swedish Order of Vasa and was awarded the gold medal of prince Eugène.

His works are kept in several museums and public locations in France and Sweden.

Osouf focused his artistic practice on sculpture when he was thirty years old. After discovering the Chartres Cathedral, his work was greatly influenced by medieval tradition. His first exhibitions took place at the Salon des Tuileries and the Galerie Georges Petit in 1934. His monumental sculpture, The Awakening was erected in front of the City of Paris Modern Art Museum in 1937 for the International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life. In the following years, he exhibited abroad, in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, the Hague, Cairo, Madrid, New York, Oslo… What’s more, he received a number of prizes, honors and rewards, like the Paul Louis Weiller prize (1964). After his death, around forty of his works joined the Reims Fine Arts Museum.