As a young woman, Augusta Dohlmann was taught drawing and painting by the flower painters O. D. Ottesen (1816–1892) and O. A. Hermansen (1849–1897), and in 1878 she went to Paris and continued her studies with the French painter Tony Robert-Fleury (1837–1911). After her debut at Charlottenborg in 1880 she returned to Paris and continued her studies with the painters Gustave Courtois (1852–1923) and Raphaël Collin (1850–1916).

Dohlmann became especially known for her floral paintings and exhibited several of her works abroad as well, including in Paris, Chicago, and Berlin. In her biography in “Kvindernes Moderne Gennembrud 1880–1910”, 2024 p. 285, her time in Paris is described as (in Danish): “In Paris she had the opportunity to model nude and experienced the new art at the Salon, where she later exhibited several times. She found herself in the French Impressionist milieu, and several of her works were commissioned by the Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel (1831–1922), who represented and supported the latest art movements”. With the help of a scholarship and ministerial support, she was able to undertake further study trips and also visited the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.

Alongside her artistic work, Dohlmann was also a great advocate for promoting the educational opportunities of female artists. Among other things, she sat on a committee for the establishment of Kunstakademiets Kunstskole for Kvinder (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' School of Art for Women), which opened in 1888. She became one of the few women of her time who could make a living from painting, and she used part of her earnings to create a scholarship for female flower painters.

Augusta Dohlmann is currently represented in three different museums in Denmark.