The artist has compassion (5)
I believe the answer is:
heart
'compassion' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the artist has' is the wordplay.
'has' indicates a hidden word.
'HEART' is hidden in the letters of 'the artist'.
(Other definitions for heart that I've seen before include "Nucleus" , "See 22" , "Decorated (cake)" , "Player for Scottish team" , "Kernel" .)