Abstract expressionist oil painting bearing a signature for Manabu Mabe

This is a horizontal abstract expressionist-style painting, featuring a bold composition of organic and gestural forms. The work centers on a textured mass of earthy browns and purples, surrounded by vibrant accents of primary red, yellow, and teal blue. The background is split vertically into a mustard-yellow field on the left and a deep black field on the right. The application of paint varies from thick, impasto textures with visible palette knife work to thin, smooth washes. In the lower right corner, the piece bears a signature reading 'MABE' above the number '88' in white paint, which are marks stylistically consistent with the Japanese-Brazilian artist Manabu Mabe. While the owner identifies this as a work by Manabu Mabe, such an attribution is treated as a hypothesis subject to in-person expert verification. The painting is housed in a thin gold-toned interior frame, bordered by a wide white mat and an outer dark wood grain frame. Visible condition issues include cracks in the matting material at the top left and bottom right corners. The overall execution demonstrates a high level of craftsmanship characteristic of late 20th-century lyrical abstraction.

Based on my visual analysis of the provided image, this painting exhibits the distinctive gestural abstraction and heavy impasto associated with the Lyrical Abstraction movement. The piece bears a signature and date ('MABE 88') consistent with the late-period style of the Japanese-Brazilian artist Manabu Mabe. Per the user submission, this is attributed to Mabe; however, I must treat this as a hypothesis as I cannot confirm the authorship or the age of the materials from a photograph alone. The textured application of paint and the bold, dichotomous background demonstrate a high level of technical proficiency. The value of $15,000 to $25,000 is an estimate based on the assumption that the attribution is correct, as works of this scale and period by Mabe are sought after in the international market, particularly in Brazil and Japan. However, visible condition issues, such as the cracking in the matting, suggest the work may require professional reframing or a conservation assessment to ensure the substrate has not been impacted. To confirm these values, a physical inspection by a specialist is required to verify the brushwork, canvas weave, and pigment composition. Should the work be determined to be 'in the style of' the artist or a later reproduction rather than a work by the artist's own hand, the market value would likely drop significantly to a decorative range of $500 to $1,500. A definitive valuation would also require documented provenance or inclusion in a relevant catalogue raisonné.