Fully stocking the museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a long-term project that will have players fishing, bug-hunting, and even evaluating art pieces. It takes a lot of hard work to keep the museum curator happy. Blathers has a discerning-eye, and will only accept the genuine article – no forgeries allowed. Luckily, each false painting has a fairly obvious tell. Players should be on the lookout for these differences, and use their hard earned bells for the real deal only.
Art can be obtained in a few ways in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s possible for certain types of villagers to gift or mail a painting to the player. Unfortunately, they aren’t experts and may give the player a forgery, which has no use beyond décor. They cannot be donated or sold. The only way to get rid of a false painting is to trash it, or (re)gift it.
The other way to acquire paintings is to purchase them from Jolly Redd’s Treasure Trawler. This is where players can put their critical eye to work. The easiest genuine paintings to spot are the ones that do not have false versions. There are 14 Animal Crossing paintings that will always be real. They are:
- Calm painting
- Common painting
- Dynamic painting
- Flowery painting
- Glowing painting
- Moody painting
- Mysterious painting
- Nice painting
- Perfect painting
- Proper painting
- Sinking painting
- Twinkling painting
- Warm painting
- Worthy painting
Seeing any of these paintings in Jolly Redd’s should be an automatic buy for the player. They can be confident that they’re getting the genuine article. Unfortunately, it’s the fake paintings in Animal Crossing that are more difficult. The forgeries are tougher to spot – but have some dead giveaways. The differences (according to Forbes) are listed below, along with the real versions of the artwork.
Animal Crossing – Academic Painting
- The false version has a stain in the upper-right corner, presumably from the forger’s coffee mug.
Animal Crossing – Amazing Painting
- The man in the center of this painting wearing a red sash is the tell – if he has a hat, it’s the real thing.
Animal Crossing – Basic Painting
- The false version of this painting features a boy with bangs all the way across his forehead. The real one has some skin visible.
Animal Crossing – Detailed Painting
- If the flowers are purple, it’s fake. If they’re blue, it’s real.
Animal Crossing – Famous Painting
- This one is arguably the most recognizable work of all time, the Mona Lisa. The raised eyebrows on the false one make it look very strange – and marks it as a forgery.
Animal Crossing – Graceful Painting
- In the real version of this painting, the woman will only fill about half the canvas. She is not very tall. The false one increases her size to most of the page.
Animal Crossing – Jolly Painting
- In the real version of this painting, the man made of fruits and veggies will have an artichoke sticking out of the front of his chest. It looks a little like a boutonniere. The fake has no such decoration.
Animal Crossing – Moving Painting
- Look to the trees for the answer in this painting. If there isn’t a forest in the background, it’s a fake.
Animal Crossing – Quaint Painting
- The real painting has a small stream of milk coming from the pitcher, not the torrent featured in the false version.
Animal Crossing – Scary Painting
- The fake version has the man’s eyebrows raised in the middle – both point up towards the middle of his forehead.
Animal Crossing – Scenic Painting
- There’s a group of two people and several dogs on the real painting, whereas the fake only shows one man.
Animal Crossing – Serene Painting
- While the ferret is cute, it is a fake. The real version shows the woman petting a white ermine.
Animal Crossing – Solemn Painting
- This one can be tough to spot, but the man in the background who is exiting through the door is touching the wall in the real painting. In the false one, he is pointing straight up.
Animal Crossing – Wild Painting (Left Half)
- If the character is colored white, it’s real.
Animal Crossing – Wild Painting (Right Half)
- Opposite it’s counterpart, if the character is green then it’s real.
Animal Crossing – Wistful Painting
- The woman’s earring is spherical in the genuine article, and is a star in the fake.
With these tips in mind, any player can become an expert art dealer in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Source: Forbes