As a child, Rudolf Baschant had to move his family several times, first from Salzburg to Breslau, then to Essen and from there again to Idstein am Taunus. As early as school he was collecting and identifying plants and insects. Despite his great interest in botany, he attended courses in graphics, lithography, etching and commercial art at art schools in Essen, Frankfurt am Main, Weimar and Leipzig with the great desire to become a graphic artist. A great inspiration for Baschant's work as a graphic artist were the years from 1921 to 1924, in which Baschant worked at the Bauhaus graphic printing works with Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger and Wassily Kandinsky. After attending the Academy for Book Trade in Leipzig and completing his master's degree in copperplate printing, he lived for several years as a freelance artist in Halle an der Saale. From 1930 to 1933 he taught at the Burg Giebichenstein school of applied arts. From 1934 to 1949 he worked as a scientific draftsman at the Botanical Institute of the University of Halle and at the University of Innsbruck. From 1949, he was employed by the magistrate in Linz as an employee in the botanical garden. Baschant's work was significantly influenced by the Bauhaus; on the other hand, it shows a great love of nature. Often there are small-format flower and plant visions, but also demonic fantasy. Baschant also occasionally created works with different themes, e.g. watercolours in which he captured impressions of landscapes in bright colours. From 1952 until his death, Baschant belonged to the artists' association MAERZ and the professional association of visual artists in Upper Austria.