Redd’s Art guide – how to tell which paintings and statues are real or fake
Keep an eye out, cousin.
Jolly Redd is a sneaky fox who’ll sell you paintings and statues which can be donated to Blathers in the museum, or kept in your own personal art collection. They’re sometimes not the real deal though. Here’s how to tell whether they are genuine or fake.
Here’s our list of paintings, statues, and the forged versions you’ll have to watch out for. Thanks to the community over at the Animal Crossing Wiki for compiling the information.
Jolly Redd forgery guide – how to discover fake paintings and statues
Redd is a strange character. We trust him because he calls us cousin, and his used-car-salesman huckster attitude is honestly quite endearing. You still need to keep an eye out though – here’s how to tell when Jolly Redd is taking you for a ride.
Paintings – Real vs Fake
First up, here’s a list of all the paintings you can get in the game with descriptions to help you discern whether Redd’s selling you a fake or not. It’s also worth noting some paintings can’t be forged, we presume the shady characters working for him have some limits too.
| Painting | Forgery |
|---|---|
| Academic Painting | The fake Academic Painting has a coffee cup stain in the top right corner. |
| Amazing Painting | The genuine painting has the man in black and red wearing a hat. In the fake, he’s not wearing a hat. |
| Basic Painting | In the real image, the man pictured has a fringe covering his entire forehead like it’s 2005. In the real painting, he has some forehead visible. |
| Calm Painting | Never Forged |
| Common Painting | Never Forged |
| Dynamic Painting | Never Forged |
| Detailed Painting | The fake version has purple flowers, whereas the real painting has blue. |
| Famous Painting | In the fake version, the Mona Lisa has a terrifying, angular, angry look on her face, whereas the real painting has the classic ambiguous expression we all know. |
| Glowing Painting | Never Forged |
| Flowery Painting | Never Forged |
| Graceful Painting | In the fake painting, the woman pictured fills up almost all of the canvas. In the real painting, the top of her head is just above the halfway mark. |
| Jolly Painting | Look at the chest of the terrifying vegetable man. The real painting should have a vegetable sprouting out of the chest, whilst the fake one does not. |
| Moody Painting | Never Forged |
| Moving Painting | In the real version, you should see some trees on the right hand side, covering some of the top-right corner. The fake painting just has blue skies in the top-right. |
| Mysterious Painting | Never Forged |
| Nice Painting | Never Forged |
| Perfect Painting | Never Forged |
| Proper Painting | Never Forged |
| Quaint Painting | The real version of the painting has only a small trickle of water being poured from the jug, whilst the fake one has what looks like a far wider stream. |
| Scary Painting | The facial expressions are different. In the real version, the guy’s eyebrows are pointing inwards, to make him look angry. In the fake one, they’re raised to make him look more worried and earnest. |
| Scenic Painting | The real version of the painting has two people walking by the trees in the lower right, but the fake only has one. |
| Serene Painting | The animal being held in the real painting is white all over, but the fake version has a grey face. |
| Sinking Painting | Never Forged |
| Solemn Painting | This one is quite tough to spot. There’s a man dressed in black at the very back of the painting who is touching a wall in the real version of the painting. In the fake one, his arm is bent and he is not quite touching the wall. Honestly, this one is pretty brutal. |
| Twinkling Painting | Never Forged |
| Warm Painting | Never Forged |
| Wild Painting (left) | In the real version, the goblin-looking thing is white. In the fake, it’s a dark green colour. |
| Wild Painting (right) | In the real version, the character on the right hand side is green, whereas in the fake it’s white. |
| Wistful Painting | Look at the woman’s earring. If she’s wearing a spherical earring, it’s the real thing. If she’s wearing a star-shaped earring, it’s fake. |
| Worthy Painting | Never Forged |
Mayor Mori’s video above is a great visual aid if you’re still unsure whether a painting is fake or not.
Statues – Real vs Fake
Redd doesn’t just flog paintings, he also sells statues, busts, and the like. Again, plenty of these forgeries can be difficult to identify, so be sure to lean closer to your screen to measure them up before you click purchase.
| Statue | Forgery |
|---|---|
| Ancient Statue | Look at the head. If it has antenna-like ‘ears’, then it’s a fake. |
| Beautiful Statue | The forged version has a necklace on, whereas the real one does not. |
| Familiar Statue | Never Forged. |
| Gallant Statue | If he’s carrying a book under his right arm, it’s a fake. |
| Great Statue | The statue’s palm should be facing upwards. If it’s pointed down, it’s fake. |
| Informative Statue | Check the lighting in Redd’s ship carefully. The fake is sky blue coloured and its haunted counterpart glows in the dark. |
| Motherly Statue | In the fake, the wolf’s tongue is hanging out. |
| Mystic Statue | She’ll be wearing an earring if it’s a fake. |
| Robust Statue | Check his right wrist. If he’s wearing a wrist watch it’s a fake. |
| Rock-head Statue | If the head is smiling, it’s fake. |
| Tremendous Statue | The real one doesn’t have a lid and is completely open. The fake has a lid with a handle in the centre. |
| Valiant Statue | This one is tough to identify. Her right foot is partially exposed and her knee bent forwards in the real version. The fake is a mirror image, so the giveaway will be her left foot and bent knee. |
| Warrior Statue | The fake rests his hands on a shovel, the real one doesn’t hold onto anything. |
If you’re after a quick look at all of the statues above – just to double check before committing to a purchase – the video we’ve linked by Chickenz should do the trick.
That’s all for our paintings and statues guide for Jolly Redd’s treasure trawler. Be careful and look closely for the differences described. Blathers will always spot a fake with his discerning eye.
If you plan on spending top dollar on Redd’s paintings, you might want to check out our guide on making money from Daisy Mae’s Stalk Market. We’ve also got other tips on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including how to kick out villagers you don’t like, as well as advice on trading villagers with your friends.
