Different Views of Andy Warhol

Laurence Leamer's new book--his 20th--is called Warhols Muses-The Artists, Misfits, And Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine. So it's hardly a flattering look at the artist.

The 83-year-old is correct that most of Warhol's employees weren't paid enough (an exception being Candy Darling). Then again, one ''superstar'' didn't need his money--at least for a while. Edie Sedgwick, who occasionally was helped by her family, received a trust fund from her grandmother Unfortunately she used it up quickly.

The author often complains that Andy didn't step in to help his employees. Yet he claims the artist would have been lost without his Factory ''family,'' and they would've been lost without him.

Most troubling is the way Leamer writes about Warhol's would-be assassin. He sounds like he feels sorry for Valerie Solanas, who couldn't get Andy and others to produce her screenplay. 

Leamer is at his best when describing the filmmaker's relationship with his mother. He points out that Julia Warhola was brought up to believe that homosexuality was wrong. Yet she accepted her son wholeheartedly. 

And Leamer does think his subject was talented, citing his whimsical shoe illustrations and colorful portraits of flowers . . . even while accusing him of not producing anything original. 

A different perspective is offered by the Newlands House Gallery in Petworth, West Sussex. Andy Warhol: My True Story, running through the 14th of September, intertwines artworks, postcards and other items with recordings from members of Andy's entourage and family. 

There are photos, too. Bob Adelman's is one of the most memorable. It shows a chuckling Warhol pouring water out of his boots, after Edie Sedgwick pushed him into a pool. 

Curator Jean Wainwright made an interesting observation during a BBC interview. She pointed out that although Andy made himself into a character with his glasses and wig, there was ''so much going on underneath--self-doubt, worry, nervousness, and anxieties,'' traits he's not generally associated with.