Compiled by Julie Bloom

Published: September 16, 2008 in the New York Times

   An art gallery was opened in Moscow on Tuesday by Daria Zhukova, right, the model and girlfriend of the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Agence France-Presse reported. The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, which occupies 91,490 square feet, is in a former bus depot in the northern part of the city that was designed by the architect Konstantin Melnikov in the 1920s. The gallery opened with a Champagne reception attended by Mr. Abramovich, as well as the installation artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, whose work was featured in the opening exhibition. Mikhail Shvydkoi, a former culture minister, said that a gallery like the Garage would not have been possible in Soviet times. “This is a gift to the generation of the 1960s,” he said, describing the art as work that “breathes freely, which does not fear censorship.” On Wednesday in Moscow the Gagosian Gallery show “For What You Are About to Receive” is scheduled to open at the Red October Chocolate Factory. It will feature more than 100 sculptures, photographs and paintings by artists including Jeff Koons, Marc Newson and Richard Prince.

To read more about Ms. Zhukova and how she might revolutionize the Russian art world, please click here.