May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sotheby's, the world's second-largest auction house, opens an office in Moscow today.

The opening coincides with an exhibition of two paintings at the State Historical Museum on Moscow's Red Square to promote Sotheby's June 19-20 London sale of Impressionist and Modern and Contemporary Art.

The paintings, which will be on display through May 27, are one work from Claude Monet's water-lily series, ``Nympheas'' (1904), estimated at $20 million to $30 million, and Francis Bacon's ``Self Portrait'' (1978), estimated at $16 million to $24 million.

``Sotheby's has worked successfully with Russia for many years, but working without a Moscow presence is no longer possible,'' said Mikhail Kamensky, the director of the Moscow office. ``Before, a small number of Russian collectors and dealers were buying only Russian art in London and New York. Now there is a large number of Russians who are buying all types of art and who are buying in cities all over the world.'' Russia, the world's second-biggest oil exporter, is in its ninth year of economic growth, fueled in part by commodities. Sotheby's Russian art sales have risen more than twenty-fold since 2001, and totaled $153.5 million in 2006.

Besides art from their own country, Russians are active buyers of impressionist works, old masters and jewelry, said Kamensky. Collectors also have branched out into contemporary art, both Russian and international, as well as Asian art.

Art Consulting

Kamensky opened an auction house, Alpha Art, in 1991, and served as its director until he left in 1993. Before coming to Sotheby's he was an adviser to the president of Bank of Moscow.

Besides seeking to improve client relations through its Moscow office, Sotheby's will offer services such as private sales, exhibitions, art consulting as well as financial and legal advice, said Kamensky.

Sotheby's new Moscow office also will cover the Commonwealth of Independent States, as the former Soviet Union is known. Ukraine is the top priority after Russia, said Kamensky.

``Ukraine has a sizable group of collectors who are buying classical and contemporary art, some of whom are opening their own art museums,'' he said.

Sotheby's would eventually like to open an auction room in Moscow, but current Russia law makes that prohibitive at the moment, said Kamensky.

Sotheby's has offices in 35 countries, and conducts auctions in 13 nations, with its main salerooms in New York and London.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Varoli at jvaroli@gmail.com

Last Updated: May 23, 2007 01:48 EDT