Builders renovating National Gallery find funder’s letter commending demolition

Builders knocking down a column at the National Gallery were surprised to find a long-lost note amid the rubble thanking them for demolishing the “unnecessary” pillar.

While removing a column in the gallery’s Sainsbury Wing, demolition workers discovered a letter dating back to 1990 from its funder, John Sainsbury, the former chair of the eponymous supermarket chain, that said he was “absolutely delighted” the pillar was being removed.

The letter, which was wrapped in a plastic folder, was found buried inside the column. Sainsbury gained access to the wing while it was under construction and dropped his scathing letter into the concrete column while it was being built. It was discovered last year while the foyer of the wing was being reconfigured.

The pillar was included in plans drawn up by American postmodern architect Robert Venturi and his professional partner and wife, Denise Scott Brown. In the letter, he criticised the pair for inserting two large false columns in the gallery’s foyer that served no structural purpose.

On paper with the Sainsbury’s supermarket letterhead, the former Conservative lord had typed his message completely in capital letters. It read: “To those who find this note.

“If you have found this note you must be engaged in demolishing one of the false columns that have been placed in the foyer of the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery. I believe that the false columns are a mistake of the architect and that we would live to regret our accepting this detail of his design.

“Let it be known that one of the donors of this building is absolutely delighted that your generation has decided to dispense with the unnecessary columns.”

Sainsbury died in 2022 at the age of 94. His widow, Anya Linden, 91, was on site when the letter was removed from the column. She said: “I was so happy for John’s letter to be rediscovered after all these years … and I feel he would be relieved and delighted for the gallery’s new plans and the extra space they are creating.”

The letter has been deposited in the gallery’s archive as a historic document. Neil MacGregor, the director of the gallery from 1987 to 2002, told the Art Newspaper that he agreed with the installation of false columns at the time. “Although there were drawbacks, Venturi had a coherent idea of the organic link between entrance hall, staircase and main galleries. I felt that, on balance, we should let the architect be the architect,” he said.

The Sainsbury Wing was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 and was entirely funded by Sainsbury and his two brothers: Simon, who died in 2006, and Timothy, a former Conservative minister.

Last year, the gallery began a £85m project to upgrade the Sainsbury Wing – with the main improvement being a more open and welcoming foyer – to cope with soaring visitor numbers that far exceed those expected when it was designed in the 1980s. The newly refurbished wing is due to open next May.