The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 letter word VAN GOGH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
V
A
N
G
O
G
H
More clues leading to the result VAN GOGH
- Painter very excited about new hotel
- Artist‘s very excited about knight on horse
- Head off excited into Norwich’s outskirts after seeing museum’s artist
- Artist showing fruit without marks in very good hotel
- Subject of selfie with 19? Not quite!
- Artist from Glasgow area bringing up the rear should take tips from Gainsborough
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Painter" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case painter = van gogh.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.