Gedney Bunce began his art education under Julius T. Busch, a German-born artist residing in Hartford. Although in the sketch of his life given in the eulogy entered into Academy minutes following his death it is stated that he studied with William Hart before the Civil War, most accounts place Bunce in New York with Hart in 1863, after the young artist had fought with the 1st Connecticut Calvary for two years and been discharged with a leg wound. While in New York, he also took classes at the Cooper Union school.
Abroad by 1867, Bunce spent over a decade studying in various European cities. He also spent time in London, Rome, and Paris, where he shared a studio with Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a lifelong friend. While in Rome in 1871, his first paintings were sent back to the United States for exhibition, but it was not until after his 1879 return to New York that he received critical acclaim. In 1880, his evocative Venetian canal scenes were praised, but a year later, there were already warnings from the press of mannerism and unmotivated repetition (Benjamin, 77). He was nevertheless compared to his friend Albert P. Ryder for his sense of color and apparent simplicity of design.
Until World War I, Bunce divided his time between Venice and the United States, but he was more associated with Venice. Over the years, he became something of an institution there. Aquaintances like Robert Blum and William Merritt Chase joked about his proud and cantankerous nature, which in 1881 had caused the Venetian gondoliers to refuse him their services, but he also had loyal promoters and patrons such as the dealer, Daniel Cottier, architect, Stanford White, and Queen Victoria of England. He kept a New York studio on Washington Square for many years but ultimately moved back to Hartford where he built a new studio and continued to paint until 1916, when an automobile struck and killed him. Seven years after his death, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Milch Gallery, New York.
