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Of all the portraits that Paul Cézanne painted during his lifetime (1839-1906), his most frequent subject was himself. Second came his wife, Marie-Hortense Fiquet (1850-1922). The exhibition “Madame Cézanne,” opening Wednesday and running through March 15 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will present 23 of the 29 images of her that Cézanne is known to have made. They don’t give much away. Far from idealized as a woman or a beloved mate, she usually appears stiffly reserved, a dignified enigma. In fact, not a lot is known about her.

The online retailer Amazon launched “Amazon Art,” a website that will be used to market works from galleries across the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Canada. The site currently features over 40,000 works from more than 150 galleries and dealers. Offerings range from modest $44 canvases to Norman Rockwell’s Willie Gillis: Package from Home, which carries a price tag of $4.85 million.

Amazon Art’s slogan, “from gallery walls to your walls,” communicates the site’s mission – to make collecting easy and accessible to all. Consumers can search the site by medium, subject, style, size, frame and color. The majority of the galleries involved with Amazon Art are not high end and most of the artworks offered range in price from $100 to $5,000.

Peter Faricy, vice president for the Amazon Marketplace, which is overseeing the art site’s launch, said, “Amazon Art gives galleries a way to bring their passion and expertise about the artists they represent to our millions of customers.”

Christie’s evening sale of Old Master & British Paintings, which took place on July 2, 2013 in London, garnered $36.2 million and attracted buyers from 11 countries. Georgina Wilsenach, Head of Old Master & British Paintings at Christie’s London, said, “This sale saw strong prices for paintings from all schools particularly Italian, Flemish and British. We welcomed, once again, bidders from Asia, the Middle East, South American and Russia as well as the traditional markets of Europe and America.”

Canaletto’s (1697-1768) masterpiece, The Molo, Venice, from the Bacino di San Marco, was the evening’s top lot. The work, which is one of the artist’s most celebrated views of Venice, realized $12.8 million, well over its high estimate of $8.9 million. The painting, one of the largest of this particular subject, once belonged to Edward Howard, the 9^th Duke of Norfolk and a major patron of British art. The work was passed down through the Duke’s family until the 1970s.

Other highlights from the sale included Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) detailed study of a bearded man’s head in profile holding a bronze figure. Created after the artist had returned to Antwerp from Italy, the composition depicts one of the kings featured in Rubens’ monumental Adoration of the Kings (1616-17), which was painted for the Church of Saint John in Mechelen. The study brought $2.6 million, just over its low estimate of $2.2 million.

One of the most significant artists of the 20^th century, Henri Matisse (1869–1954) is best known for his use of color and fluid, innovative forms. A leading figure in modern art, the French artist defined the Fauvist movement, but defied classification. The works of Nicolas Poussin, Édouard Manet, Auguste Rodin, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin inspired Matisse and he communed with groundbreaking artists such as Camille Pissarro, André Derain, and Gertrude Stein.

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition Matisse: In Search of Painting opens on December 4 and explores the evolution of Matisse as a painter. Matisse worked rigorously, often painting the same scene and subject over and over again to gauge his own progress and compare various techniques, a process he developed during his academic training.

In Search of Painting features just 49 vibrant canvases but spans Matisse’s entire career. Organized by Rebecca Rabinow, a curator of modern and contemporary art, the exhibition places the works in pairs and groups by subject to illustrate Matisse’s methodical process. In the 1930s, Matisse began having photographs taken at various stages of each painting to document their evolution. Three of the finished canvases along with their accompanying photographs will also be on view. The juxtaposition illustrates Matisse’s own self-awareness and the arduous process that led to each finished canvas.

Matisse: In Search of Painting will be on view through March 17, 2013.