Andy Warhol was fascinated with the high and low in art, and even twenty years after his death, his Estate has managed to sell limited-edition Campbell’s soup cans in Barney’s for twelve dollars each. But just a few years before the debut of his first soup can screenprint, Andy Warhol illustrated a children’s book, THE LITTLE RED HEN, which will be auctioned off on December 9th.

To me, nowhere is the juxtaposition of the high and low in art more apparent than in children’s illustration. Though one might look at a Jackson Pollock and think (but perhaps not say), “I can splatter paint on a canvas!,” one hears people browsing the picture book section and declaring, “I could draw this!”

But after over three years of reading the query box, I can assure you, ninety-eight percent of the people that scoff at the artwork, cannot just “splatter paint.” I’ve seen everything from four-fingered Santa Clauses, to illustrations of children without necks. And though we advise aspiring children’s writers not to illustrate their own stories unless they think their artwork can truly measure up to the illustrations that are already on the bookshelves, sometimes it’s clear that this advice is ignored at best, and followed at worst.

But true to pop art, a children’s picture book is high art in terms of talent and technique, and low art in terms of accessibility. Mo Willems’s ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE books are a testament to what one well placed line can do, and Roberto Innocenti’s illustrations are as rich in color and detail as one would find in their favorite painting. One publisher that consistently blends the fine arts with picture books is The Creative Company, whose books are gorgeous pieces of art in and of themselves. In MICHELANGELO’S WORLD, The Creative Company blends images of Michelangelo’s own works with the sonnets of the award-winning children’s poet J. Patrick Lewis, using leather accents to bind the book.

Less expensive than a Barney’s 4-pack of Warhol soup cans, a picture book is usually $17.00 to $32.00, but could bear the artwork of the next Warhol, Chagall, or even Picasso. (Try buying an authentic screenprint of one of Warhol’s Soup Cans for $17…!) Though the picture books that Andy Warhol illustrated are out of print, you can still find Warhol illustration on the bookshelf. Warhol’s nephew, James Warhola, is now a successful picture book writer and illustrator. Warhola visited his Uncle in New York City as a child; writing and illustrating the experience many years later in UNCLE ANDY’S: A FAABBBULOUS VISIT WITH ANDY WARHOL, and his just released sequel, UNCLE ANDY’S CATS.

Will every picture book illustrator make as large a mark on the art world as Andy Warhol did? Probably not. But can picture book illustration be high art? Absolutely.