In the second half of the 1940s, Bearden's semi-abstract watercolors and oils incorporated fragmented and layered forms rooted in cubism. Often produced in series, their subjects ranged from biblical motifs to paintings inspired by the poetry of the 20th century Spaniard Federico Garcia Lorca. Part of a cycle of pieces entitled the Lorca Series, "Now the Dove and the Leopard Wrestle" takes its title from the Lorca poem, "Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter":

The wind carried away the cottonwool
at five in the afternoon.
And the oxide scattered crystal and nickel
at five in the afternoon.
And now the dove and the leopard wrestle
at five in the afternoon.

Oil on canvas
Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
© Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, N.Y.

Source: National Gallery of Art, exhibition wall text