1921 - 2006

       Josie was born in Amsterdam, Holland to a highly recognized doctor and his wife.  However, due to circumstances, she and her two sisters spent their childhood in an orphanage.  Frail-looking and skinny, she spent a lot of time in the infirmary.  A doctor noticed her drawings and showed them to Queen Wilhelmina.  Impressed with what she saw, the queen awarded Johanna Van Gent a full scholarship to the prestigious Kunstoefening, Arnheim Academy.  She outperformed many of her teachers and graduated Cum Laude.  She later received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees from the Academy of the Hague.

       Josie was recognized by the Red Cross for humanitarian efforts during World War II.  After the war, she lived in Paris, designing for a fashion house.   She later started a successful advertising agency in Brussels,  became a socialite,  and married a British industrialist.  When they moved to South Africa,  she could not tolerate the class distinctions and the treatment of the native population so she returned to Holland.  She met an American doctor.  They married and moved to New York where she illustrated for magazines.    In 1969, she settled in the Charleston, SC area and opened the Edell Gallery.

       Edell is recognized as one of the finest watercolorists in the history of Charleston.  She continually searched for beauty.    Her subject matter includes still life, landscape, architecture and figurative works.   Her light-filled, inspiring watercolors of the people and charm of Charleston have been widely collected for the past 30 years.  She also was a benefactor for many charities.

       Since her passing in 2006, many of her prints are still available, signed and unsigned.  A few of her original watercolors are also available from the Dobbin Gallery.