Brief Biography-Augustus Nicholas Burke was from Co Galway, Ireland, and was a descendant of William the Conqueror. His brother Thomas Henry Burke was Permanent Undersecretary, the top Irish civil servant post.
Augustus began sketching in his locality at an early age and later did his studies at the Royal Academy in London. He became a professor of painting at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. In 1870, Burke went to Holland for two years to paint and travelled on to Brittany in France. Both countries influenced his work, which he later exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy. Walter Osborne, who became one of Ireland's most prominent artists, was a student of Burke.
When his Brother Thomas Henry was murdered in the Phoenix Park Dublin, along with Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, by the 'Irish National Invincibles' group, it upset him so much he emigrated to Italy.