How to spot fake and real art in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Every painting, every sculpture.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons just received its final major content update in November 2021, and that means many lapsed Villagers have returned to their overgrown islands to discover what has changed. Amongst those more recent additions is an NPC called Redd the fox. Introduced in early 2020, Redd is the shady art dealer of New Horizons, and he’s capable of swindling you out of some serious Bells if you don’t pay attention to some very specific details.
To start your journey with Redd, just visit your museum after donating at least 60 items to Blathers. At that point, blathers will tell you he’s interested in collecting art. The next day Redd will appear on your Island roaming around. Talk to him, and he’ll try to sell you a painting for a lot of Bells. Decline, approach him again, and he’ll provide a much more approachable sum.
That painting is real, but many of the other paintings and sculptures Redd tries to sell you are not. Below, we outline all you need to know to find every real painting in the game including the Proper painting, Warm Painting, Glowing Painting, and more.
How can you tell the difference between a real and a fake?
Redd comes to your island at random intervals offering up a wide variety of supposedly famous artwork and sculptures. Redd’s take on “The Mona Lisa,” for example, features a conspicuous set of eyebrows not present in the original. And, prior to turning that art piece in to Blathers, it’ll simply be called the “Famous Painting.”
Just for you, we've in-game artwork names with their real-world counterparts below, so you don’t have to do any guesswork. Just compare Redd's wares to the real-life image and consider the differences that we've detailed here, and sorting it out should be fairly easy.
You can also try using the mobile app, Smartify, available for both iOS and Android, which scans historic pieces and provides information about them. Much to Redd's dismay, the app will recognize forgeries as the real deal. This will show you the real art piece and its name well before conversing with Blathers, thus deflating the scammer's operation.
What it means for a fake piece of art to be haunted
Occasionally, Redd will sell haunted artwork, meaning it'll display spooky properties like eyes that follow your every movement. Spooky pieces are considered fake and thus ineligible for inclusion in Blathers’ museum, but you can still put them in your home as potential murder mystery party decor.
Redd and his pal.
What happens if you buy a fake?
If you mess up and Redd sells you a fake, it’s essentially worthless when it comes to reselling. Blathers won’t install it and Nook won’t take it, which means its yours to use as a decoration if you’d like to do so. Each user on your Switch can only buy one painting per day, so make sure you’re careful in your selection process.
How to purchase from Redd more than once a day
The only real workaround to purchase from Redd multiple times per day is to Switch to a different user on your Switch. Each user gets one chance to buy, so, if you’ve got four users on your console, you’re more or less guaranteed to get the one real art piece he sells each time.
When visiting another player's island it’s possible to buy from their Redd but only if you’ve not already bought from him before. The multi-user trick is generally the best method to get the most lucrative paintings every single time.
How to get every Redd art piece in a single day
Redd's wares are also vulnerable to Animal Crossing's time travel cheese. You can learn how to use it to exploit Redd right here. This can help you in obtaining all 40 paintings and statues in possibly just an hour or two of your time, rather than the nearly two-year odyssey that Animal Crossing: New Horizons defaults him on. Nobody has time for that.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons real vs. fake painting differences
Academic Painting ("Vitruvian Man” by Leonardo Da Vinci) — The fake copy has tea or coffee stains in the top-right corner.
Amazing Painting ("The Night Watch” by Rembrandt) — The fake copy removes the hat from the figure in black in the center of the painting.
Basic Painting ("The Blue Boy” by Thomas Gainsborough) — The boy in the fake copy has bangs.
Fake Basic Painting as noted by bangs.
Calm Painting ("A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges-Pierre Seurat) — There isn't a forgery of the Calm Painting, so this one's always real.
Common Painting ("The Gleaners” by Jean-François Millet) — There isn't a forgery of the Common Painting, so trust Redd for once.
Detailed Painting ("Rooster and Hen with Hydrangeas” by Ito Jakuchu) — The fake copy has purple flowers rather than blue.
Dynamic Painting ("Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai) — This one's always real.
Famous Painting ("Mona Lisa" by Leonardo Da Vinci) — The fake copy has the Mona Lisa's eyebrows pointing up with a disdainful expression that most people should be able to spot. We quite like it, though!
Fake Famous Painting as noted by Mona Lisa's expression
Flowery Painting ("Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh) — There isn't a forgery of the Flowery Painting, so trust Redd for once.
Glowing Painting ("The Fighting Temeraire” by Joseph Mallord William Turner) — The Glowing Painting is always real.
Graceful Painting ("Beauty Looking Back” by Hishikawa Moronobu) — The fake copy of Graceful Paintings features a much larger version of the woman that occupies most of the canvas. In the real Graceful Painting, the top third of the canvas is empty. This painting is haunted and some fakes will change at a certain time of day. The haunted version will flip the image horizontally, and the woman's outline becomes visible on the rear of the painting.
Jolly Painting ("Summer” by Giuseppe Arcimboldo) — The fake copy is missing the sprouting flower coming from the figure's chest in the bottom right corner of the original.
Moody Painting ("The Sower” by Jean" by François Millet) — There isn't a forgery of the Moody Painting, so this one will be real.
Moving Painting ("The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli) — The fake copy removes the trees just behind the figure on the right of the genuine painting.
Mysterious Painting ("Isle of the Dead" by Arnold Böcklin) — This one is always real.
Nice Painting ("Young Flautist” by Édouard Manet) — The Nice Painting is always real.
Perfect Painting ("Apples and Oranges" by Paul Cézanne) — There isn't a forgery of the Perfect Painting, so trust Redd on this one.
Proper Painting ("A Bar at the Folies" byBergère" by Édouard Manet) — The Proper Painting is always real.
Quaint Painting ("The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer) — The fake copy of Quaint Painting has lots of milk pouring from the jug; the real Quaint Painting has only a very thin trickle of milk pouring from the jug.
Fake Quaint Painting as noted by the surplus of Water from the jug
Scary Painting ("Otani Oniji II" by Tōshūsai Sharaku) — The fake copy of Scary Painting has comically sad eyebrows; the real Scary Painting has eyebrows with an angry frown. A 'haunted' version of this painting exists where the man is also smiling.
Scenic Painting ("The Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel) — The fake copy of Scenic Painting is missing a third hunter between the trees on the left.
Serene Painting ("Lady with an Ermine" by Leonardo Da Vinci) — The fake copy of Serene Painting features a miscolored grey/blue ermine ("or stoat, if you prefer); the original is white/cream all over.
Sinking Painting ("Ophelia" by John Everett Millais) — There isn't a forgery of the Sinking Painting.
Solemn Painting ("Las Meninas" by Diego Velasquez) — The fake copy of Solemn Painting has the man in the doorway in the background pointing upwards; in the real Solemn Painting, he's reaching out in front of himself with his arm at an angle.
Fake Solem Painting, as noted by thumbs up being given by the man in the doorway.
Twinkling Painting ("The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh) — There isn't a forgery of the Twinkling Painting, so trust Redd for once.
Warm Painting ("The Clothed Maja" by Francisco Goya) — There isn't a forgery of the Warm Painting, so trust Redd for once.
Wild Painting Left Half ("Wind God and Thunder God" by Tawaraya Sotatsu) — The fake copy of Wild Painting Left Half switches the color of the creature to green; the creature in the real Wild Painting Left Half is white.
Wild Painting Right Half ("Wind God and Thunder God" by Tawaraya Sotatsu) — The fake copy of Wild Painting Right Half switches the color of the creature to white ("note — the reverse of the Left Half switch); the creature in the real Wild Painting is green.
Wistful Painting ("Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer) — In the fake, the shape of the pearl earring is changed to a star. A 'haunted' version of this painting exists – it shows the girl with her eyes closed, also with the star-shaped earring. This change takes place at a certain time.
Worthy Painting ("Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix) — There isn't a forgery of the Worthy Painting, so trust Redd for once.
All real and fake statue differences in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
There are 13 statues to collect in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Ancient Statue ("Dogū" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Ancient Statue has a pair of antenna-like 'ears'. A 'haunted' version of this statue exists which, at a certain time, has illuminated eyes and makes it levitate.
Beautiful Statue ("Venus de Milo" by Alexandros of Antioch) — The fake copy of Beautiful Statue is wearing a necklace around her collar.
Familiar Statue ("The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin) — There isn't a forgery of the Familiar Statue, so trust Redd on this one.
Gallant Statue ("David" by Michelangelo) — The fake copy of Gallant Statue is carrying a book under its right arm.
Great Statue ("King Kamehameha I" by Thomas R. Gould) — There isn't a forgery of the Great Statue, so trust Redd for once.
Informative Statue ("Rosetta Stone" by Unknown) — The fake copy of the Informative Statue is blue. Bit of an obvious one, this. A haunted version exists which also glows.
Motherly Statue ("Capitoline Wolf" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Motherly Statue has the wolf's tongue hanging out.
Mystic Statue ("Bust of Nefertiti" by Thutmose) — The fake copy of Mystic Statue is wearing an earring.
Robust Statue ("Discobolus of Myron" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Robust Statue has a wristwatch on its right wrist.
Rock-head Statue ("Olmec Colossal Head" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Rock-head Statue is smiling.
Tremendous Statue ("Houmuwu Ding" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Tremendous has a lid; the real Tremendous Statue is open and has no lid at all.
Valiant Statue ("Nike of Samothrace" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Valiant Statue is a mirror image of the real one.
Warrior Statue ("Terracotta Army" by Unknown) — The fake copy of Warrior Statue is leaning on a shovel; the real Warrior Statue has nothing.
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