Peripheral vision has lower resolving power than the fovea with which we see that part of the world at which we look directly. To look directly at any part of a painting by Bonnard is to see patches of paint too large to be blurred together by foveal vision and often the edges that separate the different patches. But as the fovea moves away from an array of patches, they will merge into continuous colors and edges as they are claimed by peripheral vision, owing to its lower resolving power. Thus, objects in Bonnard's paintings will appear more realistic if you don't look directly at them. (The same thing happens when you look at them at a distance or squint at them to reduce direct focus.) Effectively, the same thing appears under two different descriptions because Bonnard contrives it so that the same thing is perceived in two different ways.
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