Rene was a member of the Beaux-Arts Society of New York and was awarded the Beaux-Arts Medal First Class. He lectured at Yale University and was head of the Sculpture Department at New York University for four years. He specialized in architectural sculpture. He designed medals including the Caldecott, a Detroit city Commemorative medal; a NY, DOT commemorative decoration and the American Library Association's Newbery Medal.

In New York, he worked on the Daily News Building, Queens County Hospital, Kings County Hospital; State buildings in Albany and the Buffalo City Hall. He worked on the design of the Century Apartment House at 25 Central Park West; Beekman Tower at 3 Mitchell Place, the American Radiator Building, The Chanin Building and New York Life, and many others. He did other work on The Chicago Tribune Building, Lafayette College in Easton, PA; the Deering Library at Northwestern University; the Law School and Sterling Library at Yale University. He made the triton fountain sculptures for Rockefeller Center and collaborated in his large midtown studio with Lee Lawrie on the Atlas sculpture. On occasion, before a presentation to clients in his studio he was known to provide lunches with wines and spirits. Once clients were 'relaxed,' he would make the presentation.

He was one of the foremost practitioners of what was called the French Modern Style. He frequently worked for the architect Raymond Hood. When it became obvious that steel and glass structures were replacing the grand designs of the Gothic and Art Deco era, Chambellan left his studio, smashing all his molds (he did not want any 'opportunists' to take any of his works — most were too large to transport or store) and began his retirement. His premature death came from what were believed to be the effects of the gas attack he had endured in WWI. He is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Fairview, NJ.

Lawrie was a student at, and taught at Yale, where he earned a BFA in 1910. He taught at Harvard from 1910-12. Lawrie sculpted the reredos at St. Thomas and much of the exterior sculpture at St. Vincent Ferrer in New York. He did extensive work for the Nebraska State Capitol, finishing it after Bertram Goodhue (its architect) died in 1924. John D. Rockefeller Jr. brought him in to work on Rockefeller Center. He made the 'Atlas Holding the World' at the International Building on 5th Ave and 'Wisdom' at the G.E. building. He also worked on the Louisiana State Capitol (completed in 1924); the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC; and the Sailors Memorial Bridge at Harrisburg, PA. Lawrie coordinated sculpture for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, the 1939 New York World's Fair, and the post-WWII American Battle Monuments Commission.

The best-known Lawrie sculpture is his portrait of F.D.R. (1946) on the dime coin. His was influential in Washington, DC, from 1933-1937, but work dried up. In 1939, he had begun to look for work as a sculptural assistant. After WWII, sculpture was no longer included in, or on buildings. From 1945-1950, he was the sculptor member of the National Commission of Fine Arts. His career as a sculptor, however, was over.