Les Abattoirs, Toulouse

Les Abattoirs, Musée, Frac Occitanie Toulouse is the modern and contemporary art museum of Toulouse, in a former slaughterhouse on Allées Charles de Fitte in the Saint-Cyprien district on the left bank of the Garonne. It suits visitors interested in twentieth-century and current art, and anyone wanting to see Picasso's huge stage curtain.

Brick slaughterhouse halls from 1831

The city adopted a plan for a new slaughterhouse in 1823. The project passed from Jacques-Pascal Virebent to Urbain Vitry in 1825, and the brick halls were built between 1827 and 1831, opening in 1832. The buildings were listed as a historic monument in 1990. In 1995 the city, the region and three existing art institutions were merged into one body and the empty slaughterhouse was chosen as its home. The museum opened in 2000.

Museum works, the Frac and the Daniel Cordier gift

Three collections share the halls: the museum's own modern and contemporary works, about 3,880 pieces from 1934 onward; the regional contemporary art fund (Frac), with more than 1,300 works; and almost the entire collection of the dealer and collector Daniel Cordier, deposited by the Musée National d'Art Moderne. The best known single work is La Dépouille du Minotaure en costume d'Arlequin, a vast stage curtain painted in 1936 by Pablo Picasso and Luis Fernández, shown periodically in the basement.

Joan Miró: Protest and weekend quick tours

Joan Miró: Protest runs from 3 October 2026 to 7 March 2027, and Assemblages: Taking Care of Things runs until 31 January 2027. Short "quick tours" of the Miró works run at weekends, and the museum hosts yoga sessions and themed guided tours in the galleries. Its Frac programme also sends exhibitions across the Occitanie region, including along the Canal du Midi until the end of 2026.