Rank works of art with lowest class excluded (6)
I believe the answer is:
status
'rank' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for status that I've seen before include "One's standing in the community" , "Position in society etc" , "Social position - prestige" , "and 9: Existing state of affairs" , "Position in organisation or in society" .)