Background
De Frey was born in Amsterdam as the second child of a family of 3 daughters and two suns.
De Frey was born in Amsterdam as the second child of a family of 3 daughters and two suns.
The family was Roman Catholic. On March 22, 1804 Anna Alida and Gerhard Pootmann had the banns published. She used herself on this occasion the names Anna Aletta.
She can also be referred to as: Anna de Freij, Aletta de Frey, Anna de Frey, Aletta Pootmann-de Fre.
Anna de Frey was a specialist as copyist from Jan Steen, Gabriel Metsu and Emanuel de Witt. She preferred interiors and genre scenes and worked mostly in watercolours. Paintings in oil are rare.
But in 1790 and 1810 there have been paintings from her hand for sale on auctions. Her copies were found in recommended art collections at her time, according to contemporaries Van Eijsden and Van der Willegen. They also stated that she was a teacher herself as well.