The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word WARHOL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
W
A
R
H
O
L
More clues leading to the result WARHOL
- Fighting depression will not finish artist
- Artist fights depression — doesn’t quite make it
- American artist’s representation of Harlow
- Artist in break spent fighting?
- Artist in break from action?
- Military leave for artist, b. ’28
- Pop artist fights against everything, audibly
- Artist‘s military leave?
- Picture maker shows the doctor punched by a right and left
- Artist fighting depression when energy’s gone
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 = warhol.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.