Modern art's kudos and glamour lure Russia's rich

MOSCOW (Reuters Life!) - Wealthy Russians who can't spare millions to buy headline art from Europe and the United States are snapping up cheaper contemporary works in Russia to add a twist of transcendent glamour to their homes.

A bold photographic series of a biblical scene, a porcelain model of a masturbating riot policeman and a pastel-colored abstract chalk work are among the Russian modern art pieces leaping in cost, gallery owners said at a major Moscow art fair.

"Prices are jumping 20 to 30 percent a year at the moment," said Aidan Salakhova, who set up her gallery in Moscow in 1992.

She motioned at a series of nearly life-size photos behind her which depicted three scenes of the Supper at Emmaus, a moment in the Bible when a group of disciples realize that Jesus has been resurrected.

Dozens of artists have painted the Supper at Emmaus including one by the 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt, a picture which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

This nine picture series interpretation features a man in a raincoat, a pink flamingo and a naked woman wearing ice skates. It should sell for about 210,000 euros ($330,000), Salakhova said.

"But this is still about three times cheaper than a similar artist with similar experience would sell for in New York," she said. "Prices are going up, but the market is still developing."

On the other side of the exhibition hall just outside the red brick wall of the Kremlin, a visitor studied a collection of porcelain models from modern life -- including policemen in body armor and helmets -- caressing one another and having sex.

Russian billionaires -- enriched mainly by a boom in commodity and energy prices -- have ploughed millions of dollars into the world's art market over the last few years fuelling a global rise in prices.

Earlier this year Chelsea soccer club owner and metals billionaire Roman Abramovich bought a painting by the British artist Lucian Freud for $33 million.

In 2007 a Russian businessman spent $9 million on a Faberge egg -- jewel encrusted eggs made by Peter Carl Faberge around the turn of the 20th century.

But it's the second tier of Russia's wealthiest -- the millionaires rather than the billionaires -- who are driving the home-grown contemporary art market, a Western art expert who specializes in the Russian market said.

"Of course, if you can't afford the main artworks from Europe, why not buy the contemporary stuff from Russia?" he said.

Another characteristic of domestic demand is for works by emigrants.

Hundreds of artists fled Russia after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, which led to the Communists taking power and establishing the Soviet Union, which promoted Socialist realism art displaying the prowess of the worker.

Rich Russians want to buy back the art these emigrants created after fleeing Russia, said Natalya Kournikova, who specializes in buying early 20th century Russian art from Western Europe and the United States and selling them in Moscow.