Ferme (Farmhouse) is one of the artist’s most evolved Neo-Impressionist compositions, though completed at a time when he focused largely on developing his Synthetist style. Works from this time period are extremely rare and innovative, as we see with his contemporary Charles Angrand’s sale of Les Meules, pricing itself over five times it’s estimated value at $683,000. This is even more relevant to Gausson, as we see most of his paintings were executed in a shorter time period (1888-1900), as he gave up painting later in life to become a poet.

Gausson has deftly handled the tones of the earth and sky, their depth revealing the artist’s supreme understanding of the effects of light and material. The viewer observes the rich differences in texture between the straw-laden ground, brick chimneys, and red slate roofs. It is remarkably crisp in it delineation of forms, especially given the Divisionist direction Gausson has taken here in his dense handling of individual brushstrokes.

This piece was finished in 1909, toward the end of his career as a painter. However, we believe the piece was started in the late 1880’s, around the same as La Maison, 1888 as we can see both of the architectural motifs echo the houses and buildings in his hometown of Lagny-sur-Marne. The piece was finished just after Gausson returned from Africa (1901-1908), and we infer that Gausson completed it upon arrival to France to gift to his girlfriend. Both of these works were incredibly avant-garde for the time period, as they were created at the forefront of Pointilism and Divisionism—this could explain why the work was set aside and finished at a later date as the movement became more widely recognized.