Sainsbury’s critical column note found in National Gallery demolition

UK National Gallery sponsor John Sainsbury criticised the column during its construction in the 1990s.

There was a surprise message hidden for the demolition crew which knocked down a column at London’s National Gallery this week. The workers found a message from the 90s that thanked the future builders for demolishing the “unnecessary” pillar.
Left in 1990, the note was by John Sainsbury, a British businessman and politician who was the president of the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain and a House of Lords peer before his death in 2022, aged 94.
In 1985, Sainsbury and his two brothers funded the construction of a new wing in the National Gallery at a cost of around £50 million. The new wing was designed by American architect couple Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
However, Sainsbury didn’t like the addition of two false columns in the gallery’s foyer that were purely aesthetical without structural purpose. The House of Lords Baron typed a letter hating on the columns and hid it inside one of them during construction.
No one was aware of the note until its discovery in 2023 during reconstruction work. Builders discovered it in a plastic folder as they removed the column.
The full note reads:
“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’s widow, Anya Linden, 91, was there when the letter was removed and has told the press she “was so happy for John’s letter to be rediscovered after all these years”.
“I feel he would be relieved and delighted for the gallery’s new plans and the extra space they are creating.”
Sainsbury’s letter has been saved by the gallery in its archive as a historical document. The National Gallery is one of London’s most prestigious exhibition spaces. Established in 1824, visitors to its Trafalgar Square location can see priceless art from the 13th to 19th century. The postmodernist Sainsbury wing, opened in 1991 was one of the biggest additions to the gallery in its history creating much more space for the huge collection.