Vilma Frey arrived in Gödöllő with her sister, Rózsa, in response to an advertisement for a weaving workshop that had started in Gödöllő in 1904. They learned of the opportunity from Árpád Juhász, one of the founding members of the Gödöllő artist colony, who had previously taught them the basics of drawing in Zombor. Vilma Frey qualified as a teacher but could not find a suitable position near her home.
Vilma Frey’s sisters were also closely connected to the Gödöllő artist colony. Rózsa was the head of the Gödöllő weaving workshop between 1906 and 1919. Their sister Erzsébet also came to Gödöllő, where she worked in the weaving workshop and was also involved in agriculture. Their older sister, Ella, was married and did not settle in Gödöllő, but photographs and paintings show that she visited the town frequently. Her home in Hódság was always open to artists from Gödöllő.
After learning the basics of weaving, Vilma Frey, with the support of Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch, was awarded a scholarship to attend the School of Applied Arts, where she studied workshop drawing. According to exhibition catalogues from that time, she contributed a large number of her own tapestry designs to the weaving workshop’s collection.
In 1912, she married the young artist Jenő Remsey. For their honeymoon, they went to Dachau, where they visited the art colony that had been active there from 1890 until the outbreak of World War I, and where Vilma Frey also created works. She gave birth to her first child, Ágnes Remsey, in the spring of 1914 at her sister Ella’s home in Hódság, where she spent most of her pregnancy. It was here that she painted one of her most beautiful watercolours, titled *The Rosebush* Rrózsatő). Her sons Iván (born in 1921), Gábor (born in 1925), and András (born in 1929) were all born later. All of her children became artists.
Her descendants, relatives, and friends, who remain closely united to this day, fondly remember Vilma Frey.
Cecília Nagy Őriné
art historian