Victoria Gelfand, director of Gagosian's London space, has told Bloomberg that the international gallery chain now makes almost 50 percent of its total sales to buyers from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

These numbers have risen rapidly in the past 18 months, she said. The bulk of the sales are postwar and contemporary art, and the most popular artists are Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and Cecily Brown.

Gelfand also gave some details about Gagosian's current show in Moscow, "for what you are about to receive," featuring 70 artworks by such artists as Anish Kapoor, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, and Cy Twombly. Gagosian spent about $1 million to renovate the sprawling temporary space on the third floor of the former Red October Chocolate Factory where the show is being held. Of the 50 or so works that are for sale, "about 13" have sold since the September 17 opening, at a range of $25,000 to $2 million, she said.

Still, Gagosian has no plans to open a permanent space in Russia. "We found that the current model of flexible shows is actually working very well for us,'' said Gelfand.