Most of us know the story of Andy Warhol and his rise from commercial artist to legendary pop star. His influence and shadow are hard to escape.

But, what many don’t know is the story of his older brother, John Warhola. John, like many big brothers, held sway over Andy and was a major influence on Andy’s late-stage art. “Major influence”, if you were to ask John, would be the understatement to end all understatements. Some, including John himself, would in fact say that Andy stole not only John’s style, but his work.

John Warhola’s journey began in his late teens when he would spend countless hours alone in his bedroom. John desperately wanted a family dog, but his parents always refused him one. In protest, John holed himself up in his room and disappeared into his art work. The family struggle— to dog or not to dog (always dog)—was directly reflected in John’s early pieces.

From there, the leap to Andrew’s now-famous body of work is quite obvious.