With gold, the painter shows distinctive character (4)
I believe the answer is:
aura
'distinctive character' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'with gold the painter' is the wordplay.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'gold' becomes 'au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'the painter' becomes 'RA' (member of the Royal Academy of Arts).
'au' next to 'ra' is 'AURA'.
'shows' is the link.
(Other definitions for aura that I've seen before include "distinctive impression" , "subtle emanation" , "Air, distinctive character" , "Nimbus" , "Ambience; vibes" .)