The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 4 letter word SALVADOR DALI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
A
L
V
A
D
O
R
D
A
L
I
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Catalan artist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case catalan artist = salvador dali.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.