In The Rhetoric of Purity, Mark Cheetham explores the historical and theoretical relations between early abstract painting in Europe and the notion of purity. For Gauguin, Serusier, Mondrian and Kandinsky - the pioneering abstractionists whose written and visual works Cheetham discusses in detail - purity is the crucial quality that painting must possess.

In 'The Rhetoric of Purity' Mark A. Cheetham explores the historical and theoretical relations between early abstract painting in Europe and the notion of purity.