My uncle was a gallerist in West-Berlin, Germany, till the mid-80s, so we inherited some of the art back then. Now there is some I have not identified to this day, drives me crazy; I may post some from time to time where I feel the visibility or the signature or the style may have a chance to get identified by the knowledge&smarts of this goup. :)
First one is a painting, signed with a name that looks French to me (but could be wrong, just a guess). No picture of the back, unfortunately, will go back to my mom's for that some time and post a pic; from what I remember we checked and there was nothing written in the back though.

Small update: Looking at the photo I think am now also seeing some sort of writing on the bottom right, possibly initials (like a second, shortened signature?)? I am seeing KL, KI or possibly KIM / KLM. I posted an enlarged pic below.

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  • I have no idea but I think that is a beautiful painting. I like it a lot!

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  • If you can afford it (and are inclined) find out if a conservator thinks it should be cleaned. My sense is the colors are much more vibrant than you see them now but have lived with smoke and dust and are just in need of a good cleaning

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    That's a very interesting observation, I will look into it!

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  • Small update: Looking at the photo I think am now also seeing some sort of writing on the bottom right, possibly initials (like a second, shortened signature?), no? Will try to get a closeup of that next time I'm there.

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  • I would say this pic should be in portrait orientation (shows on Reddit as landscape orientation). One turn to the left would get right. I really love this. The composition, colors, execution, and even condition. Can you keep it?

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    Artist signature is on bottom left. He or she seemed to create it to be enjoyed in landscape orientation as OP has posted.

    *but each to their own.

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    I see what you’re saying, especially with the greens. It’s giving landscape. But the signature is horizontal in the bottom left corner. Also I’m assuming it came from the original owner with wire on the back.

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    Oh, I can totally see how it would work in portait orientation, nice. :) I really like it too and we can definitely keep it; we may sell some stuff, but we don't "have to" sell. I'm considering bringing it to my flat as I may have better light than my mom for this fairly dark-colors piece.

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  • Thanks for your post, /u/feline_berlin!

    Please check the Google Lens and Yandex image searches in the auto-comment. Crop and re-crop the search box, and you may find it! Try Tineye, too. It's OK to solve your own post!

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  • Can you find out of there's anything on the back? Maybe a date or a title?

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    From what I remember we already checked and there was nothing (updating my original post with this), but next time I am at my mom's (that's fairly soon) I will look again, take a pic and update here.

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    Got it. I would not expect anything, but you never know.

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  • If you can make out a few letters in a row, you can search artist signatures dot com and see a list of matches. Even without a subscription it can be helpful to give you ideas for possible surnames

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  • Google Lens says: The painting is likely Rouge bleu gris et lie-de-vin by the Russian abstract artist Serge Poliakoff.

    I was thinking Feininger or someone from Der Blaue Reiter or maybe even Kandinsky. You've got something there, OP, I would look into it further.

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    Appreciate your help! :)
    I was thinking Poliakoff too, but did not want to influence people too much. Signature does not fit what I have seen of Poliakoff's signature though, so I have been trying to check fitting names of painters from around Poliakoff to no avail yet. Something with the fame of Feininger, Der Blaue Reiter or Kandinsky would surprise me because my uncle was a pro (specialised in the lost/forgotten generation and their rediscovery), but hey, maybe he misattributed it or could not identify it either.

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    They have a very good authentication service in Paris which is partly operated by his son if I remember correctly, communication via email proofed to be very friendly, helpful and straightforward.

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    Poliakoff, you mean? Will check it, thanks!

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  • Style is very similar to Serge Poliakoff but the signature doesn‘t match.

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