Russian art will remain the central leitmotif of the Russian, Eastern and Oriental Fine Art Fair due to open in London on June 9, director of the fair Peter London said.

"Fine Asian art (particularly Meji period figures) are well collected in Russian circles and even politically we are seeing an affiliation between Russia and the Eastern world," London said.

"The evolvement of the Fair to cover the Eastern world as a whole is very logical, although Russian art still accounts for the majority of items on show," he said, adding that the Fair will always remain at least 50% Russian, although an increase in Asian antiques and fine art next year is expected.

He said the inclusion of Asian art at the Fair was largely due to the fact that the organizers did not want it to become too contemporary. He also noted that much of Northern Asia used to belong to the USSR, so has connections with Russia.

"Although Russian and Asian art have very independent styles, there is a strong synergy and history, dating back to the days of the Silk Road trading routes which started in China and traversed Kazakhstan before ending in Rome. Indeed our foyer exhibition charts the connection between Chinese and Russian silks."

London said the fair does not feature conceptual art or include videos or installation work, as it has a different approach to art.

"Conceptual art is for museums or fairs like Frieze," he said. "We are a Fine Art Fair. The addition of video and installation work would not fit well with the traditional art on show."

One of the highlights is Victor Moiseikin's Horn of Plenty, which contains over 4000 diamonds and is crafted with the same degree of skill and precision employed by Carl Faberge. Prices of the more affordable works of art at the fair will start from ?500 ($720).

"Paintings from the 19th century and 20th century Russian avant-garde will be in evidence, with prices up to ?1million ($1.5 million), together with undiscovered masterpieces from the Soviet era," London said.

The Russian Art Fair was held for a first time in 2009.

LONDON, June 9 (RIA Novosti)