French painter losing head about place for putting colour (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
sage green
'colour' is the definition.
(I know that sage green is a colour)
'french painter losing head about place for putting' is the wordplay.
'french painter' becomes 'degas' (Edgar Degas).
'losing head' means to remove the first letter.
'about' is a reversal indicator.
'place for putting' becomes 'green' (I've seen this in another clue).
'degas' with its initial letter taken off is 'egas'.
'egas' in reverse letter order is 'sage'.
'sage'+'green'='SAGE-GREEN'
(Other definitions for sage green that I've seen before include "Colour of plant" , "Dull colour" .)