A decades-old letter has been found at the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing, in which donor John Sainsbury calls its false columns “a mistake” of architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
The letter, which was found last year as the wing was undergoing work for its controversial revamp by Selldorf Architects, was written by Sainsbury, one of the wing’s funders, reported The Art Newspaper.
Hidden inside one of two concrete non-structural columns in the wing’s foyer, it anticipated their demolition and criticised their design.
The letter, written by Sainsbury on July 26, 1990, states:
“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.”
Columns “unnecessary” according to Sainsbury
The columns were a part of the architects’ postmodern design for the wing, which saw Venturi and Scott Brown take the forms and columns of the 19th-century neoclassical National Gallery, but slowly reduce the elements.
The Sainsbury Wing won the 25 Year Award from the American Institute of Architects in 2019 and is seen as one of the most prominent examples of postmodern architecture in the UK.
However, Sainsbury, who dropped the plastic folder-encased letter into a column while the building work for the wing was underway, felt the columns that decorate its foyer were unnecessary.
“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 letter concluded.
Never liked it anyway. A lovely little rejoinder to the defenders of the Venturi, Scott Brown wing of the National Gallery. A note from Lord Sainsbury who fronted the cash for it was found in a column. pic.twitter.com/BpC4HvCCpm
— Tim Abrahams (@timabrahams) August 27, 2024
The letter from Sainsbury calls the columns a “mistake”
Neil MacGregor, who was the National Gallery’s director when the Sainsbury Wing was built, told The Art Newspaper that Venturi and Sainsbury had had a difference of opinion when it came to the foyer design.
“Venturi wanted the foyer to have the feel of a mighty crypt, leading upstairs to the galleries, so it was a subsidiary space – the beginning of a journey, not a destination,” he said.
“John Sainsbury argued that sightlines should be as unencumbered as possible, thinking the extra columns would conceal the entrance to the lecture theatre and temporary exhibition galleries, confusing the visitor.”
The letter has now been placed in the National Gallery archive as a historic document.
Sainsbury Wing revamp heavily criticised
The Sainsbury Wing is currently undergoing work to remodel it based on a design by Selldorf Architects that Scott Brown has opposed, calling it “destructive”.
Designed to give the galleries “a more inclusive feel”, the revamp will see six Egyptian-style columns and a curved wall removed from the main lobby. The remaining columns will be clad in Pietra Serena stone.
The revamp was also criticised by eight former presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects, who said it would “turn the Sainsbury Wing into an airport lounge”.
Organisations Historic England, Historic Buildings and Places and the Twentieth Century Society have also opposed the plans for the extension.
