Beerhol T-Shirt

by Tom Warin

Beerhol T-Shirt
(CafePress)

Few people know that Andy Warhol stole everything, including his name, from the lesser known artist Andreas Beerhol, who painted the original design featured on this T-Shirt.

Where Warhol took his subjects from a wide slice of life, Beerhol focused exclusively on beer. His personal preference was for the dark Alt beer of his hometown Düsseldorf, but commercial pressure forced him to feature lagers more prominently.

Beerhol hoped that his "Beer Art" would inspire a movement as large as his hated rival's "Pop Art", but it was never to be.

Every move that Beerhol made would be mirrored by Warhol to greater acclaim.

His "Genny Cream Ale Can" became Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Can" His sponsorship of the alternative band The Verdant Hopfield inspired Warhol to adopt The Velvet Underground.

Beerhol died of hop-poisoning an embittered man (literally and figuratively), surrounded by his beloved beer-drinking cats. A handful of brewers attended his funeral, but the art world ignored his passing. We can only hope that by wearing Beerhol T-Shirts featuring his work that we can reclaim this friend of beer for the whole world.