After Rudolf Buchner took part in the First World War as an officer, he concentrated on his artistic career from 1919 onwards. He attended various courses at the Academy of Fine Arts and the School of Applied Arts in Vienna and in Leiden and studied painting with Albert Sallak and Hugo Emil Flatz. In 1920 Buchner founded the Marchfeld Association of Visual Artists, of which he was president until 1962. He went on extensive study trips and settled in Vienna in 1933. In 1945 he founded the professional association of Austrian visual artists. From 1945 until his death, Buchner was a member of the Vienna Secession and from 1959 a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus. His wife Adri Alindo was also an artist.