Animal Crossing: Never Be Fooled by a Fake Piece of Art With This Checklist

By | January 18, 2021

Last Edited:

Redd sells famous works of art from all over the world, but he has a tendency to sell forgeries that only a keen eye can spot. Though you can purchase and display forgeries, Blathers will not take forged artwork to display at the museum, so deducing which are genuine items that Redd sells is important to expanding your museum.

As of Patch 1.2.0, Redd can appear off the coast of your island in Jolly Redd‘s Treasure Trawler. First, however, you’ll need to donate at least 60 items to the Museum (including the 5 to Tom Nook and 15 to Blathers in his tent). Once Blathers tells you he’s ready to take donations of artwork, Redd should appear the next day.

While his boat will always be docked on the small northern beach on your island, you won’t be able to enter it until you find Redd himself wandering elsewhere on the island. Talk to him and wait for him to apply his family discount and buy the first art he sells (it will always be genuine), and then give it to Blathers. The art he offers is random, too, so what you get will likely be different than what someone else gets.

To open a new art exhibit wing in the museum, Blathers will close for day for renovations, and afterwards you can find Redd on your island again on a different day, at which point he will invite you to his ship to see more of his art collection.

Boarding Redd‘s boat will put you in a seedy store of sorts, where Jolly Redd sells various furniture, as well as his precious works of art.

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Each time you visit, he will display 4 works of art – but several of them may not be genuine, and are instead skillful forgeries with only a few telltale signs, and you’ll need to know what to look for, otherwise you may buy the wrong artwork that Blathers will refuse to put in the museum.

It seems that Redd can sell multiple real works of art, and all four can also be forgeries, so be wary when making your pick! Once you’ve chosen a work of art, you cannot purchase another, even on a friends island, for the rest of the day..
Want to know if Redd is currently visiting your island without having to look for him or his boat? Just check your map – and if you see the icon for his Treasure Trawler shop on the north side of your island, you’ll know he’s currently visiting that day!

If you have no interest in waiting for Redd to reappear and rolling the dice every time he updates his inventory, you can finish your collection quickly with this time travel cheat. Cheat credit to Doug Chin for contacting us about this exploit.

  1. First, you’ll need Redd on your island. If Redd is nowhere to be found, Time Travel (change your system clock) one day at a time until you see him.
  2. Shop at Redd’s once he appears. Don’t worry if Redd is selling nothing but fakes; you don’t need to buy anything for this cheat to work. Save, exit your game, then close the software completely.
  3. Head to System settings on your Switch. Select system, then select Date and Time. Make sure Synchronize Clock via Internet is turned Off. Change the Date and Time to go only one day ahead.
  4. Start up Animal Crossing. It’s a new day and Redd is gone. Feel free to use this time to get your art from the mail and even donate it to the museum if you’d like.
  5. When you’re ready, save, exit, and close the software. Return to the system settings and change your clock back to the previous day to resummon Redd. He’ll  have new inventory in his shop!
  6. Rinse and repeat until your museum collecting is complete. 

Warning: Don’t Time Travel Too Far

Keep in mind that if you go forward or back more than one day Redd will no longer appear. If you see Redd on May 13th you can’t just consistently return to May 13th weeks later. We’ve found it can take up to 2 weeks for him to appear again so be careful when using this cheat or you’ll have a lot of time travel work ahead of you.

If Redd has managed to trick you, and Blathers informs you that your fake art or fake paintings cannot be submitted to the museum, you’ll be stuck with your forgeries – as Redd will have a strict “no refunds policy.” Similarly, word apparently gets passed around the island, as Timmy and Tommy will also refuse deal in forgeries, and you’ll be unable to sell fake art at Nook’s Cranny.

This doesn’t mean you still can’t display your fake art on your island though – just like any other item, you can display painting and sculptures all over your island or in your own home if you want. If not, you can always use a trash can item to literally throw it away if the memory of getting duped still haunts you!

Haunted Paintings and Creepy Fake Art

On the other hand, if you’re interested in some haunting consider keeping the fake art you buy. Players have reported portraits opening their eyes and statues floating once they’re interacted with.

(photo above from @Trogdorbad)

Below is a list of all know Works of Art that Redd sells. Click on the artwork’s name to automatically scroll to it on this page. Included is the name of the item in Animal Crossing, the name of the actual artwork it is based on, and any discrepancies you can look for when trying to discern if the item is a forgery. You can also view the slideshow below for fake and real comparisons:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – All Real vs. Fake Works of Art

Academic Painting

Actual Name: “Vitruvian Man”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
There’s a circular stain from a mug in the top corner.

Amazing Painting

Actual Name: “The Night Watch”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The character in black is missing his hat.

Basic Painting

Actual Name: “The Blue Boy”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The boy will have longer hair in the back and over his forehead, instead of a more visible forehead.

Calm Painting

Actual Name: “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Common Painting

Actual Name: “The Gleaners”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Detailed Painting

Actual Name: “Rooster and Hen with Hydrangeas”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The hydrangeas displayed are purple in color, not blue.

Dynamic Painting

Actual Name: “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Famous Painting

Actual Name: “Mona Lisa”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The character has very pronounced eyebrows.

Flowery Painting

Actual Name: “Sunflowers”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Glowing Painting

Actual Name: “The Fighting Temeraire”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Graceful Painting

Actual Name: “Beauty Looking Back”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The woman’s size is almost the entire height of the portrait, instead of around half the size.

Jolly Painting

Actual Name: “Summer”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
There is no artichoke pinned on the shirt.

Moody Painting

Actual Name: “The Sower”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Moving Painting

Actual Name: “The Birth of Venus”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
There are no trees on the right side of the painting.

Mysterious Painting

Actual Name: “Isle of the Dead”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Nice Painting

Actual Name: “The Fifer”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Perfect Painting

Actual Name: “Apples and Oranges”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Proper Painting

Actual Name: “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Quaint Painting

Actual Name: “The Milkmaid”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
There will be a lot of milk pouring from the jug instead of just a trickle.

Scary Painting

Actual Name: “Portrait of Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The eyebrows will be arched up, making Otani look scared rather than arching down to make him look scary.

Scenic Painting

Actual Name: “Hunters in the Snow”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
There is only one hunters instead of three, and only 12 dogs instead of 14 (2 are missing at the top of the group).

Serene Painting

Actual Name: “Lady with an Ermine”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The ermine has dark grey fur patches.

Sinking Painting

Actual Name: “Ophelia”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Solemn Painting

Actual Name: “Las Meninas”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The character in the far doorway is raising his hand up instead of holding it to the left.

Twinkling Painting

Actual Name: “Starry Night”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Warm Painting

Actual Name: “The Clothed Maja”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Wild Painting – Left Half

Actual Name: “Wind and Thunder God”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The god on the left side is green, not white.

Wild Painting – Right Half

Actual Name: “Wind and Thunder God”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The god on the right side is white, not green.

Wistful Painting

Actual Name: “Girl with a Pearl Earring”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The pearl earring is star-shaped, not round.

Worthy Painting

Actual Name: “Liberty Leading the People”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This painting is reported to always be genuine.

Ancient Statue

Actual Name: “Dogu Clay Figurine”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The figure has antenna on its ears.

Beautiful Statue

Actual Name: “Venus de Milo”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue is wearing a necklace.

Familiar Statue

Actual Name: “The Thinker”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This statue is reported to always be genuine.

Gallant Statue

Actual Name: “Statue of David”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue is holding a book under its arm.

Great Statue

Actual Name: “King Kamehameha I”
Real Version It’s Fake if…
This statue is reported to always be genuine.

Informative Statue

Actual Name: “The Rosetta Stone”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The stone is blue when it should be black.

Motherly Statue

Actual Name: “Capitoline Wolf”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The wolf has its tongue out.

Mystic Statue

Actual Name: “Nefertiti Bust”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The bust is wearing an earring on the right side.

Robust Statue

Actual Name: “Discobolus”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue is wearing a wristwatch on its disc-throwing arm.

Rock-Head Statue

Actual Name: “Olmec Colossal Head”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue head is smiling.

Tremendous Statue

Actual Name: “Houmuwu Ding”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The bronze box has a lid with handles in them middle, instead of handles only on the sides.

Valiant Statue

Actual Name: “Nike of Samothrace”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue is inverted, and its clothes drape over its right shoulder, not its left.

Warrior Statue

Actual Name: “Terracotta Soldier”
Real Version It’s Fake if… Fake Version
The statue’s hands are resting on a spade-like object.

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