Jolly Redd, the sly art dealer, is a recurring character in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, bringing a boatload of furniture and, more importantly, art pieces to your island. While Redd offers a chance to acquire valuable artworks for your museum, not everything he sells is genuine. Just like in real life art collecting, you’ll need a keen eye to differentiate between authentic masterpieces and cunning forgeries.
This guide will serve as your essential tool for navigating Redd’s inventory, focusing specifically on paintings. We’ll delve into how to identify real paintings from fakes, ensuring your hard-earned Bells contribute to enriching your museum and not to a fraudulent collection. With 43 unique art pieces to discover and donate, mastering the art of spotting fakes is crucial for any aspiring Animal Crossing art connoisseur.
Unlocking Redd and His Secret Cove
Before you can even start scrutinizing paintings, you need to unlock Redd’s visits to your island. Your journey to becoming an art collector begins with Blathers, the museum curator. He needs to express interest in expanding the museum to include an art gallery. This conversation is triggered after you’ve generously donated at least 60 specimens to the museum – this can be a mix of fish, bugs, or fossils.
Once Blathers has mused about art, Isabelle will announce the arrival of a suspicious art dealer during her morning broadcast the very next day. This is your cue that Redd is now roaming your island. Find him wandering around, and he’ll offer you a “random” painting for an exorbitant 498,000 Bells. Politely decline this initial offer, and he’ll dramatically slash the price to a much more reasonable 4,980 Bells. This first piece of art he sells you will always be genuine – a guaranteed entry point into the world of Animal Crossing art collecting.
Donate this initial artwork to Blathers. He’ll then commit to opening an art exhibit, closing the museum for renovations the following day. Two days later, your museum will proudly unveil its new art wing, and Redd will begin to appear on your island sporadically.
Redd doesn’t dock at your main harbor. Instead, he anchors his boat at the secluded northern beach of your island. This “secret beach” is often tucked away at the back of your island, and you might need a ladder to access it if you haven’t terraformed the area.
Like other special merchants such as Kicks and Flick, Redd’s boat appearances are random. There’s no fixed schedule, so keep an eye out for his ship whenever you play. While initial theories suggested Resident Services upgrades or museum donation milestones might be prerequisites for Redd’s arrival, current understanding suggests his appearance is primarily based on chance after the initial unlock.
Navigating Redd’s Art Selection
Aboard Redd’s boat, you’ll find four art pieces displayed alongside two furniture items. Remember, you can only purchase one art piece per visit, so careful consideration is key. It’s entirely possible for all four art pieces to be forgeries, or you might get lucky and find multiple genuine works in a single visit.
Redd can also set up shop at Harv’s Island Plaza for a fee of 100,000 Bells. Here, he’ll display two art pieces, which again, can be a mix of real and fake. The “one art piece per day” purchase limit still applies on Harv’s Island. Interestingly, if you buy a piece from Redd on Harv’s Island, it will be replaced with a new random artwork the next day. If you choose not to buy anything, the stock refreshes every Monday.
What to Do With Real and Fake Art
Genuine art pieces are invaluable for enriching your museum collection. Donating real paintings and statues to Blathers helps complete the art exhibit, a rewarding achievement for dedicated players. Real art can also be used as decorative items in your home or displayed outdoors, adding cultural flair to your island.
Fake paintings, however, are a different story. They cannot be donated to the museum. Timmy and Tommy at Nook’s Cranny won’t buy forgeries either. Your options for fake art are limited to discarding them in a trash can or, for a touch of rebellious décor, displaying them in your home as conversation starters – perhaps to playfully mislead unsuspecting visitors!
The Ultimate Guide to Identifying Fake Paintings
The challenge, and arguably the fun, lies in distinguishing real art from Redd’s forgeries. Each fake painting has a subtle but noticeable difference from its genuine counterpart. Redd’s fakes in New Horizons are more sophisticated than in previous Animal Crossing games, making careful observation essential.
Below is a comprehensive list of paintings available from Redd, detailing how to spot the forgery in each. Examine each painting closely before making a purchase to ensure you’re investing in authentic art for your museum.
Important Note: While the visual guides below are based on in-game textures, there have been reports of variations in fake paintings. Always scrutinize the details and compare them to the descriptions provided before making a decision. This guide is continuously updated as new information emerges.
Academic Painting (Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci)
Fake Alert: The forgery has a noticeable coffee stain in the top right corner. The real Academic Painting is pristine.
Amazing Painting (The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn)
Fake Alert: The man in the front of the fake Amazing Painting is missing his prominent hat. The real painting features him wearing a hat.
Basic Painting (The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough)
Fake Alert: The boy in the fake Basic Painting has significantly more hair. The real painting depicts him with less hair.
Calm Painting (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat)
Always Real: The Calm Painting is always genuine, making it a safe purchase from Redd.
Common Painting (The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet)
Always Real: You can always trust the Common Painting to be authentic.
Detailed Painting (Ajisai Sōkeizu by Itō Jakuchū)
Fake Alert: The fake Detailed Painting features purple foliage instead of blue and is missing a signature on the left side. The real painting has blue foliage and a signature.
Dynamic Painting (Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai)
Always Real: The Dynamic Painting is guaranteed to be genuine.
Famous Painting (The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci)
Fake Alert: The fake Famous Painting gives Mona Lisa eyebrows! The real painting, famously, depicts her without eyebrows.
Flowery Painting (Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh)
Always Real: You can confidently purchase the Flowery Painting from Redd, knowing it’s real.
Glowing Painting (The Fighting Temeraire by Joseph Mallord William Turner)
Always Real: The Glowing Painting is always a genuine masterpiece.
Graceful Painting (Beauty Looking Back by Hishikawa Moronobu)
Fake Alert: The most common fake Graceful Painting is significantly larger and lacks a white tag near the woman’s hair. Another fake version shows the woman facing left instead of right. The real painting is smaller, has a white tag, and faces right.
Jolly Painting (Summer by Giuseppe Arcimboldo)
Fake Alert: The fake Jolly Painting is missing a small sprout or flower on the subject’s chest. The real painting includes this floral detail.
Moody Painting (The Sower by Jean-François Millet)
Always Real: The Moody Painting is always authentic, so purchase without worry.
Moving Painting (The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli)
Fake Alert: The fake Moving Painting is missing a cluster of trees in the top right corner. The real painting includes these trees.
Mysterious Painting (Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin)
Always Real: The Mysterious Painting is always a genuine find from Redd.
Nice Painting (The Fifer by Édouard Manet)
Always Real: The Nice Painting is guaranteed to be an authentic artwork.
Perfect Painting (Apples and Oranges by Paul Cézanne)
Always Real: As the name suggests, the Perfect Painting is always genuine and never fake.
Proper Painting (A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet)
Always Real: The Proper Painting is always a real work of art.
Quaint Painting (The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer)
Fake Alert: In the fake Quaint Painting, the milkmaid is pouring a much larger stream of milk. The real painting shows a smaller, more controlled pour.
Scary Painting (Ōtani Oniji the 3rd as Yakko Edobei by Tōshūsai Sharaku)
Fake Alert: The fake Scary Painting gives the figure sad-looking, droopy eyebrows. The real painting depicts him with more intense, angry-looking eyebrows. Another fake version might show him smiling, but the eyebrows will still appear sad.
Scenic Painting (The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
Fake Alert: The fake Scenic Painting is missing a hunter and several dogs in the lower left portion of the artwork. The real painting includes these figures.
Serene Painting (Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci)
Fake Alert: The ermine in the fake Serene Painting has raccoon-like circles around its eyes. The real painting depicts an ermine that is pure white.
Sinking Painting (Ophelia by John Everett Millais)
Always Real: You can always trust the Sinking Painting to be a genuine artwork.
Solemn Painting (Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez)
Fake Alert: In the fake Solemn Painting, the man in the background is raising his arm much higher. The real painting shows his arm in a lower position.
Twinkling Painting (The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh)
Always Real: The Twinkling Painting is always guaranteed to be a real masterpiece.
Warm Painting (The Clothed Maja by Francisco de Goya)
Always Real: The Warm Painting is consistently genuine, making it a safe bet.
Wild Painting Left Half (Folding Screen of Fūjin and Raijin by Tawaraya Sōtatsu)
Fake Alert: In the fake Wild Painting Left Half, the depicted beast is green instead of white. The real painting accurately shows a white beast.
Wild Painting Right Half (Folding Screen of Fūjin and Raijin by Tawaraya Sōtatsu)
Fake Alert: Conversely, in the fake Wild Painting Right Half, the beast is white when it should be green. The real painting correctly portrays a green beast.
Wistful Painting (Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer)
Fake Alert: The most common fake Wistful Painting replaces the pearl earring with a star-shaped earring. Another fake version depicts the girl with her eyes closed, also featuring a star-shaped earring. The real painting always has a pearl earring and open eyes.
Worthy Painting (Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix)
Always Real: The Worthy Painting is always a genuine piece of art.
Become an Art Expert in Animal Crossing
With this guide, you are now equipped to confidently navigate Jolly Redd’s art offerings and discern real paintings from fakes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Happy art hunting, and may your museum’s art gallery become a testament to your discerning taste and sharp eye for detail! Donating real art not only enriches your museum but also contributes to the cultural vibrancy of your island. So, set sail to Redd’s boat, inspect carefully, and build the ultimate Animal Crossing art collection!
