This splendid museum owns over 1000 original works by Albi's famous son, Toulouse-Lautrec, including two versions of the famous Au Salon de la rue des Moulins hung side by side to illustrate his technique. The 2nd floor houses an excellent if poorly lit gallery of early 20th-century art including work by Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. Part of the 1st floor explains the fascinating history of the gigantic brick building that houses the museum, originally the 13th-century fortress-palace of the Albi lord-bishops.
The main collection includes early portraits of some of Toulouse-Lautrec's friends and family – including his mother, the Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec, his cousin Gabriel Tapié de Celeyran, and his close friend, Maurice Joyant. They clearly demonstrate the artist's wry eye and playful sense of humour. There are also some delicate animal studies (especially of horses).
Inevitably, however, it's the later works that draw the eye. Toulouse-Lautrec's lifelong fascination with the Parisian underworld, particularly the lives of dancers and prostitutes, is brilliantly represented. Look out for key works including L'Anglaise du Star au Havre (Englishwoman of the Star Harbour) and Les Deux Amies (The Two Friends), which depicts two prostitutes embracing while they wait for their clients.
Toulouse-Lautrec's skills as a cartoonist and caricaturist made him a pioneer of poster art, and the museum has a fantastic collection of his most famous designs.
