When we think of Impressionism, we often imagine Monet's "Nympheas" or Renoir's garden parties. The latest exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, "Impressions of Light," seeks to present to its viewers the progression that led to the 19th Century development of Impressionism. While the curators admit there is no "direct trajectory toward Impressionism," pandemic to the exhibit is the concept of light and landscape. From the earliest Barbizon school paintings, past Impressionism and into early Expressionism, the MFA's exhibit investigates these qualities. The show starts with the works of Claude Lorrain and the Barbizon tradition. As his pieces testify, Lorrain's handling of light is perhaps one of the best to date. What separates the Impressionists from him, other than an obviously different application of paint, is the Impressionistic rejection of the tradition of historically and mythically-based painting. In this exhibit we see how the landscape, instead of being the stage for any oft-rehashed legend, has become the subject itself.

Artists who embraced the landscape-as-subject early on, including Corot and Millet (who was consequentially a notably large influence on painter Vincent Van Gogh), are also represented in the exhibit. Works of these two artists and others of their period function as the keystone between the history behind the Impressionists and their future, and are thus a great part of the exhibit.

One focus repeated throughout the exhibit is the shift from painting in the studio to en plein air. This change also gave rise to paintings done quickly, in a rush to capture a specific light or scene, paintings that were assigned to students and often termed "impressions." These works highlightthe painterly, thick style that would evolve out of the study and into the actual finished paintings.

Painting is not the only medium that makes an appearance in this exhibit. To fully explain the progression of 19th Century painting, the curators incorporate into the exhibit photography, works on paper and sculpture.

Photography is important for the Impressionist movement because of its technical reliance on light, which is what dictates how an image is captured. This new technology led to the concentration on light that would affect other domains of the art world. Several of the earliest examples of photography are displayed.

The works on paper, which make up about half of the exhibit is another important aspect of the exhibit. Paintings can be considered the ultimate rendition of the artists' intentions -- the image that has been practiced and reinvented and usually intended for public view.

Meanwhile, the drawings, lithographs and dry-points that an artist creates in preparation are more casual, and allow an intimate view of the artist's actual state of mind, as opposed to the one he prepares to present to an audience. One of the color lithographs produced by pointillist painter Paul Signac, in which the artist noted which specific dots of color where correct, which needed to be lighter, darker and a list of miscellaneous notes to himself on the overall arrangement of the lithograph, is a magnificent example of this assertion. Three Edgar Degas monotypes produced between 1877-79 clearly reveal the artist's haunted nature, found only in the underlayers of contemporary paintings.

The entirety of the exhibit was culled from the holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts, which speaks to the impressive collection held by the institution and brings to light -- if a little patronizingly -- that Boston was a city filled with collectors, eager to embrace the revolutionary style. Despite the self-serving appearance of these notes, the exhibit leaves the viewer feeling educated and satisfied. Instead of cutting straight to the very gratifying and attractive impressionist works, the visitor is shown the long progression into this currently popular subject matter.

The visit to this exhibit is definitely worth the weekday visit, which for Brandeis students costs only $5. However, if you are only free on the weekends, be prepared to face the higher priced $18 student ticket and the crowds.

"Impressions of Light" is on display until Apr. 13. For more information, please visit www.mfa.org or call (617) 267-9300.