Bunescu was born in Caracal, Romanați County, the son of Ioniță Bunea, a craftsman.

[1] His first artistic training was with Dimitrie Hârlescu in Constanța from 1904 to 1906, after which he went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he worked with Hermann Groeber.

He made his debut in 1911 at the Official Salon in Bucharest, and he had his first personal exhibit in 1919, at the Minerva Library.

He received the National Prize for Painting in 1938, and in 1940 he was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit [ro], Knight rank.

[6] He was married to Magda (1895–1974), and had two sons, Preda (who defected to Germany, and worked at Radio Free Europe), and Udrea (a doctor who later left for Belgium).