JOHN Sainsbury, the former chairman of the supermarket empire, really took the biscuit when it came to holding a grudge.

The tycoon loathed the design of the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing that he funded so much that he he put a letter wrapped in plastic into a concrete column during construction.

Lord Sainsbury and his brothers splashed out a cool £40 million — that’s £90 million today — for the gallery extension in 1990, but it is now revealed by his own pen that he hated architect Robert Venturi’s vision.

He especially took a dim view of the ‘false columns’ located in the foyer — and that’s where he left a letter for the future to read, pretty much saying ‘Thank you for knocking down this architectural abomination!’.

In his hidden note, penned on July 26, 1990, and uncovered this year after an £85 million restoration, the fuming philanthropist 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.”

Sainsbury’s posthumous wish has finally come true, 34 years later after the architect’s vision was finally demolished.

Sadly, the grumpy grocery giant passed away in 2022 aged 94, just missing out on the secret message’s grand unveiling.

His 91-year-old wife Anya was at the site when the note was discovered last year, and believes her hubby would’ve been ‘over the moon.’ She said.

“I was so happy for John’s letter to be rediscovered after all these years,” she said in The Art Newspaper “and I feel he would be relieved and delighted for the gallery’s new plans and the extra space they are creating.”

Gallery boss at the time Neil MacGregor, who was in charge when the Sainsbury Wing was constructed, admits Venturi achieved his crypt-like concept.

“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. 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.”

Thirty four years, £85 million in construction fees, one discovery later, and the Sainsbury Wing is back to its possible original origins according to its visionary benefactor.

And the man himself, John Sainsbury, managed the last laugh…