Sackler, Arthur M.

Sackler, Arthur M. (1913–87) psychiatrist, art collector; born in New York City. He studied medicine and art history at New York University, and art at Cooper Union. He was a manufacturer of drugs, worked in the fields of medical advertising and trade journals, and ended up an extremely wealthy man. He founded the Laboratories for Therapeutic Research at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy in Long Island (1958–83). After initial forays in collecting various types of art—particularly Impressionist paintings and pre-Columbian ceramics—he focused on ancient Asian art. He gave generous bequests and art works to many institutions, notably the Metropolitan Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and Harvard; the two latter institutions have named major museums after him.