Crossword Genius

French artist, dispensing with frame, struck gold (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

watteau

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'french artist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'dispensing with frame struck gold' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'with' could be 'w' (abbreviation) and 'w' is present in the answer.
'gold' could be 'au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold) and 'au' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for watteau that I've seen before include "canvasser" , "French artist" , "French 18th century painter" , "Jean-Antoine -, seventeenth to eighteenth century French rococo painter" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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