The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ERNST
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
E
R
N
S
T
More clues leading to the result ERNST
- Painter formerly concealing name
- Bear — one sits regularly for surrealist
- Some patterns taken for painter
- Artist is in Paris, taking in Rodin on vacation
- German artist’s way with English sailors
- He painted birds of prey, wasting energy and time
- Artist presenting birds, first of them diving to the bottom
- Surrealist in modern style
- German artist terribly stern
- In mid-term on northern street see painter Max
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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.