Let's be real: Blathers is a bit of a snob. You walk into that grand, echoing museum tent with a masterpiece you bought from a shady fox on a boat, and the owl basically scoffs at you. It hurts. We’ve all been there, clutching a "Famous Painting" that looks perfectly fine, only to realize the Mona Lisa has eyebrows she definitely shouldn't have. Tracking down genuine Animal Crossing New Horizons paintings isn't just a completionist's errand; it’s a lesson in art history that most of us didn't ask for but ended up obsessed with anyway.
Redd is a crook. That’s the starting point. He turns up on your secret northern beach in a rickety trawler, dim lights flickering, offering "family discounts" that are anything but. If you're trying to fill that art gallery, you aren't just playing a cozy life sim anymore. You're an amateur art appraiser. You have to squint at pixels. You have to compare the tilt of a head or the shape of a hat against Wikipedia entries of 17th-century Dutch masters. It’s stressful. It’s rewarding. It’s exactly why we still play this game years after launch.
The High Stakes of the Treasure Trawler
When Jolly Redd rolls up, he brings four pieces of art. Usually, only one is real. Sometimes, if the RNG gods are feeling particularly cruel, they’re all fake. On rare occasions, you might get two real ones, but don't count on it. The stakes are actually kind of high because you can only buy one piece per day. If you mess up, you’ve wasted your daily slot and 4,980 Bells on a piece of haunted canvas that Blathers won't touch with a ten-foot pole.
The "haunted" aspect is something people forget. Some of these fakes aren't just wrong; they're cursed. Take the fake Scary Painting (based on Toshusai Sharaku’s Otani Oniji III as Edobei). In the fake version, the man’s eyebrows are arched in a villainous way, but at night? He smiles. It’s terrifying. Or the Ancient Statue that floats when you interact with it. Nintendo didn't just give us "right" and "wrong" answers; they gave the fakes their own weird personality.
Spotting the Differences Without Losing Your Mind
You have to look at the details. Seriously.
Take the Academic Painting, which is Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. In the real version, there is a coffee stain—wait, no, that’s not right. In the real version, the top right corner is clean. In the fake, there’s a distinct circular stain from a mug. It’s a cheeky nod to the idea that Redd’s forgers are just hanging out in the back of the boat, drinking coffee over priceless masterpieces.
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Then there's the Serene Painting (Lady with an Ermine). This one is a classic Redd scam. In the real Leonardo painting, the ermine is white/winter-coated and sleek. In the fake? It’s got a weird, dark circle around its eye, looking more like a tired ferret or a miscolored raccoon. If the animal looks like it hasn't slept in three days, don't buy it.
The Wild Painting Right Half and Left Half are the absolute worst. These are based on the Folding Screens of Wind and Thunder Gods. They are expensive, they are rare, and they are incredibly easy to mix up. You have to look at the color of the creature. In the Left Half, the real god is white. If he’s green, you’re looking at a fake. In the Right Half, the real god is green. If he's white, it's a forgery. It’s a simple color swap that has ruined many a museum curator's morning.
Why Some Paintings are Always Safe
Thankfully, some Animal Crossing New Horizons paintings are "always real." These are the ones Redd can't—or won't—forge. If you see these in the boat, grab them immediately, even if you already have them. They make great gifts for friends or high-value trade items on Nookazon.
- Calm Painting (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte)
- Common Painting (The Gleaners)
- Flowery Painting (Sunflowers)
- Glowing Painting (The Fighting Temeraire)
- Moody Painting (The Sower)
- Mysterious Painting (Isle of the Dead)
- Nice Painting (The Young Flautist)
- Perfect Painting (Apples and Oranges)
- Proper Painting (A Bar at the Folies-Bergère)
- Sinking Painting (Ophelia)
- Twinkling Painting (The Starry Night)
- Worthy Painting (Liberty Leading the People)
Seeing The Starry Night on the boat is a relief. You don't have to zoom in. You don't have to check if the stars are the right shade of yellow. You just buy it. It’s a guaranteed win in a game that often feels like it’s trying to trick you.
The Problem with the Art Market
The sheer rarity of certain pieces is a genuine pain point for the community. The Great Statue (King Kamehameha I) or the Valiant Statue (Nike of Samothrace) seem to show up once every blue moon. Because Redd’s visits are randomized, you can go months without seeing a single new piece for your wing.
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This led to the "Time Travel" meta. Players would find Redd, buy a painting, move the system clock forward a day to get the mail, then move it back to the day Redd was there to see if his stock refreshed. It felt like cheating to some, but when you've seen the same fake "Wistful Painting" (the one with the star-shaped earring instead of the pearl) for the fifth time, you start to get desperate.
The Harv's Island Revolution
The 2.0 update changed everything for art collectors. Once you unlock Redd’s stall on Harv’s Island, you have a permanent place to check for art. He refreshes his stock every Monday. However, there’s a pro tip most people miss: if you buy a fake painting from him on Harv's Island, he will replace that slot with a new item the next day.
Basically, you can cycle through his inventory. It costs Bells, sure, but it’s a much faster way to find that elusive Detailed Painting or the Gallant Statue. You’re essentially paying a "trash tax" to get the good stuff to show up. It’s a grind, but it’s a controlled grind.
Don't Throw Away the Fakes
So, you bought a fake. Blathers won't take it. Timmy and Tommy won't buy it (those kids have surprisingly high ethical standards for junk dealers). What do you do?
Decorate.
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The fake Moving Painting (The Birth of Venus) is actually quite pretty, even if the trees in the background are wrong. The fake Ancient Statue with the glowing eyes looks incredible in a graveyard-themed area or a "mad scientist" lab. Some people even prefer the fakes for specific island aesthetics. The fake Wistful Painting that closes its eyes at night is a legendary creepy-pasta-style decoration for haunted houses.
Deep Nuance: The Cultural Impact of the Gallery
It’s easy to dismiss this as just a checklist. But Nintendo did something sneaky. They made us learn. I can guarantee there are thousands of players who can now identify a Thomas Gainsborough or a Johannes Vermeer solely because they spent twenty minutes staring at a screen trying to see if a blue boy had tassels on his shoes.
The inclusion of the Informative Statue (The Rosetta Stone) is a perfect example. In the game, the fake is blue. It’s a bright, jarring blue. In reality, the Rosetta Stone is dark granodiorite. By making the fake so obviously "wrong" in color, the game reinforces what the real object actually looks like. It’s education by osmosis.
Actionable Steps for the Aspiring Curator
If you're looking to finish your collection before the next decade, you need a strategy. Don't just wing it.
- Always carry a magnifying glass (digitally speaking): Use the in-game camera to zoom in on Redd's boat. The lighting is terrible in there on purpose. Tilt your screen or increase the brightness.
- Buy the fakes on Harv's Island: If you have the Bells, buy one fake every day. This forces the inventory to cycle. If you don't buy anything, the same two pieces of junk will sit there until Monday morning.
- Check the back of the painting: Once you buy a piece, check it in your inventory. Real paintings have a small certificate of authenticity on the back of the canvas. Fakes don't.
- Use the "Donation" trick: If you aren't sure, take it to Blathers. He will give you the historical background regardless, but he'll only offer to keep it if it's the real deal.
- Villager Gifts: Occasionally, your villagers will send you art in the mail. Smug villagers are the most likely to send you fakes (typical), while Jock or Lazy villagers might accidentally send you a masterpiece they "found." Always check these.
Finishing the art wing is the ultimate "flex" in New Horizons. It takes longer than the fossils, it’s more frustrating than the bugs, and it requires more patience than the fish. But when you finally walk through those quiet, white halls and see the Amazing Painting hanging there, knowing you spotted the slight wardrobe malfunction in the fake version, it feels like a genuine win. Just watch out for that fox. He’s charming, but he’s not your friend.
To move forward with your collection, focus on the Harv’s Island rotation first. It is the only way to mitigate the sheer randomness of Redd's boat arrivals. Clear out his daily stock of fakes to force the "Real" items into the rotation, and keep a checklist of your "Always Real" paintings to avoid wasting Bells on duplicates.