The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 5 letter word LUCIAN FREUD
L
U
C
I
A
N
F
R
E
U
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "‘British artist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ‘british artist = lucian freud.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.