Wassily Kandinsky, "Krass und Mild" (Dramatic and Mild) (1932)

The recession has hit the art market, but Sotheby's may have an antidote: Arthur M. Sackler. This upcoming fall and winter, the auction house will offer several hundred objects from the late collector and philanthropist's holdings, which include ancient Chinese art and furniture, pre-Columbian art, Old Master drawings, European sculpture and paintings, and much more. Together, the objects, all to be auctioned in New York, are expected to generate more than $15 million for Sotheby's.

The first offerings will be a sale of fine Chinese furniture, rugs, and works of art from the Sackler collections on September 16, followed by six works included in the house's November 4 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale, among them Kandinsky's Krass und Mild (Dramatic and Mild) (1932), billed as "one of the greatest Bauhaus-period works to have appeared at auction in years" and estimated at $6–8 million. Finally, a January 28, 2010, sale will offer European terracotta and bronze sculpture from the Sackler collections.

Sackler (1913–1987) was an avid collector and philanthropist, who gave gifts of both objects and gallery endowments to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Princeton and Columbia Universities, the Smithsonian, and London's Royal Academy. He also established museums at Harvard and Beijing universities.