Charles Auffret (1929-2001) - Lot 243

Charles Auffret (1929-2001) Portrait of his brother, François Auffret circa 1980 Terra cotta, patinated by the artist, numbered "1/8". 33 x 20 x 23 cm Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) recommended to Germaine Richier (1902-1959) "Make busts, lots of busts...". It's a salutary exercise in the highest sense of the word. Charles Auffret followed this advice, creating numerous portraits of family members throughout his career. After immersing himself in Burgundian sculpture while studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, Charles Auffret joined the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1947. There, he studied with Alfred Jeanniot and Marcel Gimond. In 1958, he set up his studio in the Buttes-Chaumont district and discovered the work of Charles Despiau, Robert Wlérick and Charles Malfray. In 1964, he was awarded the Prix du Groupe des Neuf. Following in the footsteps of the Schnegg Gang half a century earlier, the Groupe des Neuf was formed in 1963. Jean Carton, Raymond Martin, Marcel Damboise, Paul Cornet, Raymond Corbin, Léon Indenbaum, Léopold Kretz, Gunnar Nilsson and Jean Osouf, heirs to Wlérick, Despiau, Malfray and Gimond, united around a common conception of sculpture, reaffirming their direct affiliation with so-called "independent" sculpture. The following year, winner of the Paul Ricard Foundation's International Sculpture Prize, Charles Auffret was invited to take up residence on the Ile de Bendor with his sculptor wife Arlette Ginioux. There, he erected a monumental sculpture known as L'Éveil, one of his major works.