Sotheby’s has raised its estimate for the auction in London of Russian art collected by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife to as much as £20 million, as an increasing number of wealthy Russians seek to acquire works reflecting their cultural heritage.

“This is the biggest and best collection of Russian art outside of Russia,” said Mikhail Kamensky, director of Sotheby’s office in Moscow. “This is a great opportunity to acquire art from a unique collection put together by two world cultural figures.”

Russia is in its ninth year of economic growth, in large part driven by demand for oil, gas and metals, with the country’s new rich spending lavishly on luxury and prestige purchases. Prominent Russian buyers have announced they will participate in the sale.

Sotheby’s Russian art sales have risen twentyfold since 2001, and totaled $153.5 million in 2006. So far this year Sotheby’s has sold $101 million worth of Russian art.

In the Rostropovich auction, a dozen artworks of the 450 lots being sold next Tuesday and Wednesday are worth $1 million or more each and the top lot, a painting by Boris Grigoriev, is expected to sell for as much as $4 million, Sotheby’s said.

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Posted: 09|14|07 at 1:46 pm. Filed under: Auction News.