National Gallery column-hating letter by donor ‘a compromise’

Typed in capitals, on Sainsbury’s letterheaded paper, Lord Sainsbury wrote:

“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.”

Last year, the gallery began upgrading the Sainsbury Wing.

An £85m plan aims to open up the foyer to deal with vastly increased visitor numbers than had been anticipated in the 1980s.

Lord Sainsbury died two years ago, aged 94.

His widow, Anya Linden, 91, and his daughter were present when the letter was removed from the column.

“It was a really lovely moment actually,” said Mark Sainsbury.

“He was never one to say I told you so, but he would raise an eyebrow and a wry smile that finally we’d all seen sense.”

Not everybody agrees, of course.

Denise Scott Brown says she dislikes the redesign.

And Neil MacGregor, who was the gallery’s director from 1987 to 2002, told the Art Newspaper that he supported the false columns at the time.

“I felt that, on balance, we should let the architect be the architect,” he said.