Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

Albi is situated on the banks of the River Tarn about 75 km (50 miles) north-east of Toulouse. The painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is Albi's most famous son and one of Frances most famous artists. He died in 1901 at the age of 37. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was the son of the Count of Toulouse.

As soon as he was 18, he made his way to Paris, where he quickly became both fascinated by and obsessed with the seedy and Bohemian lifestyle that he found in the areas of Montmartre and Pigalle. He sketched and painted prolifically, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the bars, music halls and brothels he frequented and the low-life characters he found within.

The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum is housed in the Palais de la Berbie, a red-brick fortress the oldest sections of which date back to the 13th century. Originally the home of the bishops of the Midi region, the gardens were designed in the reign of Louis XIV in the French style, with terraces and knot gardens which offer great views of the Tarn. The museum's collection is extensive and holds more than 1,000 works, including all the posters he made for the nightclubs in Montmartre, including the Moulin-Rouge.

Albi is also home to the wonderful Gothic cathedral of Ste-Cecile, which is visible for miles around. Constructed between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries the exterior is austere, but the interior is a mass of carvings and religious scenes by sixteenth-century Italian artists. The west wall has a huge fresco of the Last Judgement and above it is a splendid eighteenth century-organ.

To enter the museum, an entrance fee will be charged. You can get there by train from Toulouse.