American artist (8)
I believe the answer is:
whistler
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">american artist</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(painter James McNeill Whistler)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for whistler that I've seen before include "American artist who painted his mother, d. 1903" , "American-born Victorian artist" , "old kettle, say" , "James ---, Rex ---, artists" , "He used canvas" .)