He is perhaps best known for the allegorical illustrations he created for the Golden Coach and a series of paintings depicting the lives of girls from the Amsterdam Orphanage.

In 1883, he entered the competition for the Prix de Rome, but no prize was awarded that year due to an insufficient number of entries.

Instead, August Allebé was able to obtain a ministerial grant that enabled him to make a study trip to Italy.

He also did book illustrations, notably for The Enchanted Ravine, a work of juvenile fiction by Cora van Berckel-van Heek (1840-1920).

In 1922, he joined the "Maatschappij voor Kunst en Kunstverlangenden", a new organization founded by the painter Jan de Boer [nl].