WALDINE TAUCH (1892-1986)

Waldine Tauch (1892-1986) was one of the foremost women sculptors of the last century completing dozens of public monuments including the statue of General Douglas MacArthur at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Moses Austin in San Antonio City Hall Square, and Pippa Passes at the Armstrong-Browning Library on the campus of Baylor University.

Her talents were recognized at an early age and friends in her hometown of Brady collected money to send her to San Antonio to study under the world-renowned sculptor Pompeo Coppini. When funds for her education were exhausted, Coppini taught her gratis and raised her as a foster daughter in his home.

She continued to sculpt into her eighties, when her eyesight began to fail. She died in San Antonio on March 31, 1986, and was buried at Sunset Memorial Park in the plot where Coppini and his wife are buried. Many of her sculptures are on view at her former studio, which now houses workshops, classes, and exhibitions sponsored by the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts.

For more biographical information, go to The Handbook of Texas Online.