Rope in the end holding artist up (6)
I believe the answer is:
lariat
'rope' is the definition.
(lariat is a kind of rope)
'end holding artist up' is the wordplay.
'end' becomes 'tail' (tail is a kind of end**).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'tail' going around 'ra' is 'tairal'.
'tairal' backwards is 'LARIAT'.
'in the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lariat that I've seen before include "tethering-rope" , "Long noosed rope for catching animals" , "Mortar-spreading tool" , "Long noosed rope used to catch animals" , "Cowboy's rope, lasso" .)