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 to paint and travelled to Brittany in France for two years. 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 Phoenix Park, Dublin, along with Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, by the Irish National Invincibles group, it upset him so much that he emigrated to Italy.