ACNH art guide: Real vs fake paintings & statues in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Posted by Fernande Dalal on Monday, August 26, 2024

Animal Crossing New Horizons players can purchase paintings and statues from Jolly Redd, but you’ll need to know how to spot fake art pieces to make sure you don’t get scammed – and that’s where our ACNH art guide will come in handy.

Even in the wonderful, family-friendly world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are still a few bad eggs looking to scam you out of your hard-earned Bells, with the biggest offender being Jolly Redd and his boat full of art.

This traveling merchant will visit the tiny northern beach of your island on random days, offering up four pieces of art for sale. Some are genuine and can be donated to the museum, while others will be fake (and are essentially useless).

Because of Redd’s trickery, it’s really important to double-check every piece of art before you purchase it from him. We’ve put together an ACNH art guide to help you spot the real from the fake and avoid ending up with a useless forgery.

Contents

Isabelle will warn you of a shady art dealer in ACNH… that’s Jolly Redd!

How to spot fake art in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Every piece of art in ACNH is based on a famous painting or statue, so if you know what the genuine work looks like, you should – in theory – be able to spot a fake piece of art.

The differences between real and fake pieces of art are often very small, though, so it’s easy to be fooled. To make matters worse, some pieces of art have multiple fake versions, while some don’t have any.

We’ve listed all of the art you can find in Animal Crossing New Horizons below, including details of how to spot the difference between real and fake pieces.

ACNH art guide: Real vs fake paintings

Here are all of the paintings in Animal Crossing New Horizons alongside the differences between real and fake versions (if there are no details, there are no fake versions):

ArtReal versionFake version
Academic PaintingNo coffee stainCoffee stain in the top right corner
Amazing PaintingThe man at the front has a hatThe man at the front has no hat
Basic PaintingThe subject has less hairThe subject has a full fringe
Calm Painting
Common Painting
Detailed PaintingThe flowers are blueThe flowers are red
Dynamic Painting
Famous PaintingThe woman has no eyebrowsThe woman has arched eyebrows
Flowery Painting
Glowing Painting
Graceful PaintingThe woman takes up half the length of the paintingThe woman takes up the full length of the painting
Jolly PaintingA weed sticks out of the bottom right cornerThere is no weed sticking out of the bottom right corner
Moody Painting
Moving PaintingTall trees on the right-hand sideNo trees on the right-hand side
Mysterious Painting
Nice Painting
Perfect Painting
Proper Painting
Quaint PaintingA tiny stream of water is coming out of the potA wide stream of water is coming out of the pot
Scary PaintingThe man’s eyebrows look normalThe man’s eyebrows are inverted
Scenic PaintingTwo people are leading the pack of dogsOne person is leading the pack of dogs
Serene PaintingThe animal is whiteThe animal is white and grey
Sinking Painting
Solemn PaintingThe man in the doorway is holding the doorframeThe man in the doorway is pointing upwards
Twinkling Painting
Warm Painting
Wild Painting Left HalfThe creature is whiteThe creature is green
Wild Painting Right HalfThe creature is greenThe creature is white
Wistful PaintingThe woman wears a pearl earringThe woman wears a star earring
Worthy Painting

Ensure to take extra care when examining the Wild Paintings for a fake, as these, in particular, are quite difficult to distinguish between. Despite the differences being simple, there are two halves and the colors are inverted for each one. Double-check the table above before buying them.

As we mentioned before, some of these paintings have multiple fake versions, but they will always have the differences listed above – and sometimes extra differences that make them even easier to spot.

ACNH art guide: Real vs fake statues

Here are all of the statues in Animal Crossing New Horizons alongside the differences between real and fake versions (if there are no details, there are no fake versions):

StatueReal versionFake version
AncientThe statue has no antennasThe statue has two antennas
BeautifulThe statue has no necklaceThe statue has a necklace
Familiar
GallantThe statue is not carrying a bookThe statue is carrying a book
Great
InformativeThe stone is blackThe stone is blue
MotherlyThe wolf doesn’t have a tongue sticking out of its mouthThe wolf has a tongue sticking out of its mouth
MysticThe woman has no earringThe woman has a large earring
RobustThe man isn’t wearing a watchThe man is wearing a watch
Rock-HeadThe face has a neutral mouthThe face has a smiling mouth
TremendousThere is no lid on the containerThere is a lid on the container
ValiantThe woman’s right leg is stepping forwardsThe woman’s left leg is stepping forwards
WarriorThe warrior has no shovelThe warrior is holding a shovel

The most difficult fake to spot is probably the Rock-Head statue, as the difference between the real one’s neutral mouth and the fake one’s smiling mouth is very small. Make sure you examine it well.

The Valiant statue is also quite tricky. Make sure you’re thinking from the woman’s perspective when examining which leg is stepping forwards.

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Where to find Redd in Animal Crossing New Horizons

You’ll need to find Redd to start buying art.

Before you’re able to get Jolly Redd to appear on your island, you’ll first need to ensure that you’ve completed a few prerequisites:

  • Make 60 donations of fossils, fish, or bugs to the museum then speak to Blathers, who will bring up the prospect of displaying art at the museum.
  • The next day, look for Redd roaming your island. He’ll offer you a painting for 498,000 Bells, but after you decline he’ll reduce the price to 4,980 Bells. Donate this piece of art to the museum, and it will close for renovation.
  • Once the museum reopens, Redd will start visiting your island on random days. You can find his boat at the tiny beach at the north of your island, which will require island terraforming abilities or a classic ladder to reach.

Every time Jolly Redd visits your island, you’ll be able to purchase one painting or statue only, and it will be delivered to you via mail the following day, so make sure you choose wisely – and avoid those fakes.

That’s it for our ACNH art guide — hopefully, it helped. You can check out some of our other Animal Crossing New Horizons guides below:

How to get a villager to move outFunny catchphrases in New Horizons | How to time travel | How to restart your New Horizons island | Stop villagers moving out | Terraforming guide | Villager gift guide | How to get the Music Box | How to get the Storage Shed | Best way to plan your island layout

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