The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word DALI
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
D
A
L
I
More clues leading to the result DALI
- Artist I’d upset about almost everything
- Artist‘s face, one shifting to one side
- Artist buried alive, partially
- Painter‘s first dog was a boxer
- Painter, epic, rejected heartlessly
- Some admired a lively artist
- Laid out in Salvador
- Homer’s epic missing central figure in write-up by artist
- One exhibited some bridal images
- Painter shows one boy facing left
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 = 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.