Mosionzhnik has “several dozen” Russian clients, most of whom are in Moscow, and says she expects that “the number of buyers will increase in leaps and bounds, because I have been cultivating a number of clients for some time.” She is among the dealers who say they have been impressed by their clients’ attachment to and appreciation of the art. 

According to Anna Belousova, Christie’s chief representative in Moscow, one of the most surprising areas in which Russians have shown a strong interest is British Victorian art. “It appeals to them because they grew up with 19th-century Russian art, which is similar in style,” she explains, adding that an additional factor is the relatively low prices of such paintings, which usually sell for $100,000 to $200,000 compared with the millions now commanded by Russian art of the same period.

Another category whose popularity is rooted in the nation’s history is Old Masters. The Hermitage and the Pushkin are full of these works, many of which were part of aristocratic collections that were nationalized in 1918.

“Russian interest in Old Masters has made a significant impact on the market in recent years, and we now take our Russian clients very seriously,” says Richard Knight, head of the Old Masters department of Christie’s London, adding that his company has “10 or 12 Russian clients” willing to spend up to $5 million on a work.

The scarcity of quality pieces in this category and concerns over provenance have led Muscovite buyers to consider French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Russian collectors have been known to drop between $3 million and $15 million for top works in these fields, and both Christie’s and Sotheby’s believe that between 5 and 10 percent of bidders in these sales might now be Russian.

One collector with some salesroom experience is businessman Alexander Ivanov, the buyer of the $18.5 million Rothschild Fabergé egg at Christie’s London last fall and owner of one of the world’s most extensive holdings of Fabergé, with around 3,000 pieces. “I have about 20 Impressionist works, including paintings by Renoir, Sisley and Monet,” says the Moscow-based Ivanov, who adds that he bought them all at Christie’s about three or four years ago, when prices were lower than today. “In general, more Russian collectors are buying Impressionist works now. Russians have always supported Impressionists. Back in the 19th century, we were among the first to start collecting their work at a time when French society turned its back on them.”

Another area that experts are keeping an eye on is German Expressionism, which was strongly influenced by Russian art. “It’s a style Russians like because it’s Western art with Russian artists in its midst, such as Kandinsky and Jawlensky,” says Oxana Bondarenko, director of the Swiss-based Victoria Art Foundation, which was created last year by natural-gas billionaire Leonid Mikhelson and focuses on introducing Russian artists to the West. “Prices could rise in the near future because of Russian collectors.” 

Last October, Christie’s promoted its forthcoming New York sales by sending some 40 artworks to Moscow, including paintings by Matisse, Modigliani and Picasso. The Moscow effort had mixed results. One of the works that was previewed in Moscow, Modigliani’s Portrait du sculpteur Oscar Miestchaninoff, 1916, did sell for $30.8 million, the second-highest price achieved in the Impressionist and modern sale on November 6, but Christie’s later said that the purchaser was not Russian. In fact, none of the works exhibited in Moscow were bought by Russians, says one official inside the house, although bidding by this group helped to push up prices.

Despite predictions to the contrary, the one area Russians have yet to embrace is international postwar and contemporary art. “It’s an illusion, a myth, that the Russians are coming to buy international contemporary art,’’ says Elena Selina, director of XL Gallery, in Moscow, the only Russian exhibitor at the Frieze Art Fair in London last October. “There weren’t many Russians at Frieze, and only a few bought.” Among those few was Igor Markin, whose extensive holdings of Russian postwar works are housed in the recently opened Art4.Ru museum in Moscow. Markin took home a small photo piece by Matthew Barney—his first purchase of a work by an international contemporary artist. “I plan to buy non-Russian art but only in the area of $10,000 to $100,000 per work,” he says. “Maybe I’ll eventually gather a full-fledged collection and then exhibit it together with my Russian contemporary art.”