A secret letter from a National Gallery donor saying that he never liked the design of the museum’s new columns was discovered inside one of the pillars as it was being demolished.
The late John Sainsbury, along with his two brothers Simon and Timothy, backed the construction of a £30 million wing named in honour of the family of supermarket operators in 1990.
It has now been revealed that the former Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover loathed one aspect of the design so much that he inserted a note into the structure that welcomed its eventual destruction.
The typed note, in which he says he despised the design of the false columns, was found in 2023 by demolition workers in one of two pillars placed in the foyer of Sainsbury Wing.
The columns included in the architect Robert Venturi’s designs served no structural purpose.
The note from 1990 congratulated the demolition workers on their decision to get rid of the false column in which the message was hidden.
Signed by the supermarket magnate and typed in block capitals on Sainsbury’s-headed notepaper, it said: “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.”