ACNH art guide

Welcome, discerning ACNH art collectors, I’m here to help you fill your museum to the brim and sneak past Redd’s scams. Ruffle Blather’s feathers with delight as you present all of the real artworks, mysteriously sourced on your own island. How did you get the actual Rosetta stone? Who knows, but here it is on display in your very own museum. Let’s get into our ACNH art guide so you can easel-y fill your museum.

If you want to pick which ACNH villagers you want to move in, then here’s our guide to all the Animal Crossing amiibo cards out there. You can also beautify your town by using our simplified ACNH flower breeding guide for pretty colors in every corner. Oh, and we’ve got a pretty interesting Animal Crossing history lesson for you if we don’t say so ourselves.

Here’s everything in our ACNH art guide:

What do I do with ACNH art?

The point of the artworks in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to donate the legitimate pieces to your museum, and fill up the exhibit. You need to suss out which statues and paintings are real before you take them to Blathers – or he’ll get sad if you show him a fake.

You can also use the items to decorate your house, give them to your favorite villagers as a fine gift, or place plenty of Michaelangelo’s David all over your island.

Where do I get ACNH art?

In order to fill out your museum’s art room you need to track down Redd, the wily fox merchant. He sells four pieces of art each time he arrives at your island – in varying levels of authenticity – but you can only purchase one per visit. Redd should arrive once a week at the northern beach section of your island.

Very occasionally, a villager can give you a piece of art – however, they can be fake, and if your villagers are anything like mine, they are more often than not a counterfeit. Thanks for making Blathers sad.

Where do I find Redd in Animal Crossing New Horizons?

As you begin the game, you find a fox wandering on your island one day. This is Animal Crossing’s Redd. Speak to him, and you can strike a deal where he appears on the secret beach at the back of your island in his ship every week, where you can buy the art pieces. These can be counterfeit works or the real deal – but that’s where we come in.

Here is a full list of every artwork in Animal Crossing New Horizons:

How to tell if ACNH art is real or fake

Right. You’re standing in Redd’s trawler and you’re not sure which piece of art to buy. Well, let us help. Most artworks appear as a fake or a real version, with a subtly silly difference on each. There are also a handful of works that are always genuine. Here, we point out how to spot each fake item.

Academic painting

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man appears as either an authentic replica or as a fake with a coffee stain in the top-right corner.

Amazing painting

The ACNH amazing painting, Rembrandt’s Night Watch, can be harder to tell apart. In the real version, the main man in the painting has a black hat on. The fake version has him without a hat.

Basic painting

The Blue Boy’s real version shows the boy with a windswept hairstyle, whereas the fake shows him with a full fringe.

Detailed painting

The ACNH detailed painting is easily distinguishable – the real version has blue flowers, whereas the counterfeit has purple.

Famous painting

Ah, the Mona Lisa. How do we tell if this one’s real? Well, the fake one has some extreme 2010s eyebrows on her, whereas the real one obviously does not.

Graceful painting

Beauty Looking Back, also known as the ACNH graceful painting, has a woman looking over her shoulder toward the right. The fake one, however, has her filling much more of the frame.

Jolly painting

Choosing the right ACNH Jolly painting is another tricky situation – look for a flower in the lower right sprouting from the man’s chest. If it has a flower, it is real, and if it does not, it is fake.

Moving painting

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is a stunning painting, even shrunk down to be the ACNH moving painting. The fake version does not have trees in the top right of the painting, whereas the real version does.

Quaint painting

The ACNH quaint painting, the Milkmaid by Vermeer, has a small difference – in the real version, the maid is pouring only a trickle from the jar, whereas in the fake version, there is a lot coming out.

Scary painting

Fittingly, in the real scary painting, the man’s face is in a scary frown – the fake version has his eyebrows and mouth upside down making him look rather happy instead.

Scenic painting

The ACNH scenic painting – Hunters in the Snow to you and me – has a subtle difference. The real painting has two hunters in the bottom left, whereas the fake only has one man.

Serene painting

To pick the right ACNH serene painting, you might need a magnifying glass. Look to the back of the room where a man stands in a doorway. If he is touching the door with his arm down, the painting is real. If his hand is in the air, it’s fake.

Solemn painting

The real ACNH solemn painting has a woman holding an ermine – a white creature – whereas the fake one has her holding a gray-striped animal that looks more like a ferret.

Wild painting (left half)

The two wild painting halves have the colors swapped between the two characters. In the left half, the real painting has a white character, whereas if he’s green, it’s fake.

Wild painting (right half)

If the character on the right half is white, the painting is fake, but if it’s green, the painting is real. Be careful not to mix these two up!

Wistful painting

There are actually two fake versions of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. They both have her wearing a star-shaped earring, and one has her eyes closed. The real version has her wearing a rounded earring with her eyes open.

Ancient statue

And now we get to the statue section. First up is the rather alien-looking ancient statue. If there are antenna poking out of its ears, it’s fake.

Beautiful statue

The Venus de Milo seems smaller in person, huh? Well, if she’s wearing a necklace and facing to the right, the statue is fake.

Gallant statue

Michaelangelo’s David is easily identified by his… book. If the statue is holding a book, it’s fake.

Informative statue

This is the literal Rosetta Stone, and probably the easiest fake to recognize. If it’s blue, it’s fake, so walk away.

Motherly statue

There’s another sneaky difference on the motherly statue – if the wolf has its tongue hanging out, the statue is not the real deal.

Mystic statue

Beautiful Nefertiti’s Bust has a subtle difference that’s easily missed – if it has a large earring, it’s fake.

Robust statue

Discobolus depicts a man holding a discus – and no wristwatch because they didn’t exist when this statue came to be. If the statue you’re looking at has a watch, step away as it’s a fake.

Rock-head statue

If you want the real ACNH rock-head statue, keep your eyes peeled for an angry-looking head. If it looks happy, you’re out of luck.

Tremendous statue

The Houmuwu Ding, the tremendous statue, comes without a lid. If Redd’s trying to sell you one that does have a lid, then it’s a counterfeit.

Valiant statue

The Winged Nike statue may both look right to the untrained eye, but Blathers taught us well. If the leg on the left of the statue is in front, it is real. If the leg on the right is in front, it is fake and mirrored.

Warrior statue

Blink and you may miss the difference here – this part of the Terracotta Army should not be holding anything. If there is a shovel in front of the man, it is fake.

The following paintings and statues are always genuine when they appear for sale, or as a gift from a villager. Simply look for the names, and you can donate them straight to the museum without needing to authenticate them.

• Calm painting
• Common painting
• Dynamic painting
• Flowery painting
• Glowing painting
• Moody painting
• Mysterious
• Nice painting
• Perfect painting
• Proper painting
• Sinking painting
• Twinkling painting
• Warm painting
• Worthy painting
• Familiar statue
• Great statue

Right – that’s your lot. Every single fake and real artwork you can possibly find in Animal Crossing New Horizons. For more Nintendo-flavored fun, check out our picks of the best Mario games on Switch and all the Zelda games in order, if you fancy taking on that challenge.