Waldine Tauch: Texas' First Sculptress

In 1935, the Texas Centennial Commission commissioned Waldine Tauch to create The First Shot Fired For Texas Independence, a life-sized bronze bas-relief set in granite. It sits seven miles southwest of Gonzales, near the site of the battle of Gonzales. Dr. Richard McCaslin discusses Tauch who rose to distinction for creating public monuments to heroes.

Born in Schulenberg, Texas, and later a longtime resident of San Antonio, Waldine was under the tutelage of Pompeo Coppini and embraced the neo-classical style. When asked why she defied the trendy modernistic, surrealistic, and deco styles, Tauch declared, "When one attains the ranks of the monumental sculptor, you feel a certain grandeur has come into your life, into your possession of creation.”

Dr. McCaslin is a professor of history at the University of North Texas and is contributing a chapter entitled "Waldine Tauch, the First Sculptress" to Making the Unknown Known: Women in Early Texas Art, edited by Light and Victoria Cummins.

Видео Waldine Tauch: Texas' First Sculptress канала City of Allen - ACTV