Snapshot of the framed painting by Oliver van Oss and accompanying pencil inscription.
Oliver van Oss, Lower Master at Eton (1959-1965), painted this scene of a bonfire in honour of VE Day on Fellow’s Eyot on 8th May 1945. The enormous, glowing fire stretches up into the night sky to the height of the tallest tree and is encircled by hundreds of Eton students and staff packed tightly together. Van Oss’s painting successfully conveys how phenomenal the news of the end of the war would have been to those in Eton – an occasion for real celebration and unity.
http://collections.etoncollege.com/object-mel-166-03-2010
