Our top three exhibitions this week: a heritage of Gulf cities in Dubai and more

From an exhibit focusing on French artist Paul Cezanne's wife at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to Dutch artist Mark Rothko's paintings at the Gemeente Museum in the Hague, here are the must see art exhibitions this week.

An untitled work from 1968 by Mark Rothko. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington / The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc

A focus on Paul Cézanne’s enigmatic wife

Hortense Fiquet was the French artist Paul Cézanne's most painted model, and also his wife. This New York exhibition of paintings, drawings and watercolours spans 20 years and traces the profound, but often neglected, effect that she had on Cézanne's portrait practice. Madame Cézanne runs until March 15 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For more information visit www.metmuseum.org.

How to construct a memory of Gulf cities

Sharjah is the subject of this talk on the construction of memory and heritage. Given by Uzma Z Rizvi, a US academic, it will examine the memory of spaces and places. It will also explore ideas of memory and urban values in Gulf cities that are often transient places for many people. Intimate heritage: Constructing A Memory of Gulf Cities takes place on December 20 in ­Dubai. For more information visit www.artdubai.ae.

First Dutch Rothko exhibition in 40 years

His paintings fetch record sums at auctions and it is not hard to see why. Constructed of layer on shimmering layer, Mark Rothko's colour fields are of unparalleled intensity and convey fear, euphoria, joy and despair. This is the first Dutch exhibition of his paintings in 40 years. Mark Rothko runs at the Gemeente Museum in The Hague until March 1. For more information visit www.gemeentemuseum.nl.