[1] After London, he spent time in Germany and was strongly influence by the Neue Sachlichkeit art movement.
[3] In 1965 Bourke won an Arts Council prize for portraiture and represented Ireland at the Biennale de Paris.
[4] In 1985, he was named Sunday Independent Artist of the Year,[6] and he received the O'Malley Award from the Irish-American Cultural Institute in 1993.
[5] In 1991, he was artist-in-residence at the Gate Theatre's Beckett Festival in Dublin, with accompanying works appearing at the Douglas Hyde Gallery.
[2] Bourke has married twice, first to Ann, a lecturer at NCAD, and secondly to Jay Murphy, also an artist.