The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word PICASSO
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
I
C
A
S
S
O
More clues leading to the result PICASSO
- Miniature picture — A Sailing Vessel — by old Spanish artist
- Photo on a steamship: old painter
- Artist in biopic as son
- Artist holding dope is very good company
- Artist — image like so
- As artist, silly man is in good company
- … in film [therefore, like an artist]
- Artist is well following unnatural dietary cravings
- Artist‘s photo to fool Oberleutnant at first
- Before round, about to be drunk by piss artist
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Artist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case artist = picasso.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.