Distinguished artist given space alongside foremost of talents (7)
I believe the answer is:
eminent
'distinguished' is the definition.
('eminent' can be a synonym of 'distinguished')
'artist given space alongside foremost of talents' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'emin' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'given' says to put letters next to each other.
'space' becomes 'en'.
'alongside' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'foremost of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'talents' is 't'.
'emin'+'en'+'t'='EMINENT'
(Other definitions for eminent that I've seen before include "Illustrious like cardinal?" , "High" , "Distinguished and admired" , "Respected; outstanding" , "Famous and admired" .)