The word painting can be a noun as in a piece of art. It can also be a verb where it is the present participle of paint.
historian
"Painter" is a noun. If a word ends in "-er" and the preceding letters spell a verb, the original word is almost always an "agency" noun.
Henry Adams
You can become an Art historian, Philanthropist, a Curator, work in art conservation or finish an education degree to teach art history at University
John L. O'Sullivan
You tell the history of ur class...duuh :P
part of speech
The part of speech for this particular word is a noun.
adverb
what part of speech is beneath
The part of speech for "answer" is a noun.
The part of speech for "explicit" is an adjective.
The part of speech for "unfamiliar" is an adjective.
The part of speech for "indefinite" is an adjective.
The part of speech for "lecturer" is a noun.
The part of speech for "breezy" is an adjective.