Rings about the Italian art exhibits perhaps (4)
I believe the answer is:
oils
'art exhibits perhaps' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'rings about the italian' is the wordplay.
'rings' becomes 'Os' (O's - O looks like a ring).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the italian' becomes 'il' (Italian for 'the').
'os' placed around 'il' is 'OILS'.
(Other definitions for oils that I've seen before include "Olive and sesame, for instance" , "landscapes, perhaps" , "Viscous stuffs in silo" , "Reduces friction" , "Soil, oddly, used by painters" .)