At the death of William D. Washington in 1871, Brooke was appointed the chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the Virginia Military Institute, but he left the position the following year.[1] In 1873 he became United States Consul at La Rochelle, in which role he remained until 1877;[3] during his time in France he studied with Léon Bonnat, and later he would work with Carolus-Duran and Benjamin Constant.[1]