Remove air for painter (5)
I believe the answer is:
degas
'for painter' is the definition.
(Edgar Degas, 1834-1917)
'remove air' is the wordplay.
'remove' becomes 'de' (I've seen this in other clues).
'air' becomes 'gas' (I've seen this in other clues).
'de'+'gas'='DEGAS'
(Other definitions for degas that I've seen before include "French painter of ballet girls etc" , "He painted dancers" , "Edgar -, c. Nineteen-twenty Fr. painter" , "Edgar --, French artist" , "Edgar -, French impressionist" .)