Redd, the proprietor of the Treasure Trawler shop that randomly appears once a month in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is one shifty customer. Every time he appears, he’ll offer to sell up to four paintings and two pieces of furniture. Depending on your luck, they might be all forgeries. To help you tell the difference between totally fake art and the real deal, I’m going to break down all the art that Redd sells, and tell you which ones are authentic, and which ones are complete forgeries.
Before purchasing art, Redd will give you a chance to look over the four available paintings. Up to two of these painting can be authentic, but all four can be forgeries. You’ll have to study these paintings carefully to tell the difference — or just check our guide for things to watch out for.
Hilariously, there are more obvious reveals on the objects themselves once you get your order back. Forgeries might float in the air, or have stains marring the back of the painting. One of the paintings will even blink after placing it in your house! These are some truly cursed objects, and if you’re looking to truly haunt your island, you might actually want to purchase these spooky fakes!
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Redd’s Treasure Trawler Guide | How To Spot Forgeries & Fakes
NOTE: All the paintings listed below can be forgeries at Redd’s shop. Any painting you find that isn’t on this list will always be authentic. Seriously!
Beauty Looking Back (by Hishikawa Moronobu)
- Painting Description: A tall Japanese painting of a woman in a red dress.
- What To Look Out For: The fake is twice as tall as the original! She’s almost as long as the canvas!
Birth of Venus (by Sandro Botticelli)
- Painting Description: A naked woman in a very big clam.
- What To Look Out For: The fake has no trees in the top-right corner.
Girl With Pearl Earring (by Johannes Vermeer)
- Painting Description: A portrait of a woman with a blue headwrap.
- What To Look Out For: The fake doesn’t have a white pearl earring.
Hydrangeas with Fowl (by Ito Jakuchi)
- Painting Description: A Japanese painting of a chicken near blue plants.
- What To Look Out For: The flowers in the background of the fake are purple instead of blue.
Lady with an Ermine (by Leonardo da Vinci)
- Painting Description: A painting of a sitting woman holding a stoat.
- What To Look Out For: The critter in the fake painting lady’s arms has a dark fur ‘bandit mask’ pattern around the eyes.
Las Meninas (by Diego Velazquez)
- Painting Description: A painting of a room filled with people in extravagant clothing.
- What To Look Out For: The main in the far background has his arm in the wrong direction in the background, in the door frame. Very tricky to spot.
Mona Lisa (by Leonardo da Vinci)
- Painting Description: It’s the Mona Lisa! It’s a portrait of an enigmatic woman.
- What To Look Out For: The fake version’s eyebrows are raised. Her expressions is all wrong!
Otani Oniji III in the Role of the Servant Edobei (by Toshusai Sharaku)
- Painting Description: A Japanese portrait of a very angry looking man.
- What To Look Out For: The fake version has inverted eyebrows — instead of angry, he looks sad.
Summer (by Guiseppe Arcimboldo)
- Painting Description: A painting of a woman made out of fruit.
- What To Look Out For: There’s a flower on the chest in the real version that’s missing on the fake.
The Blue Boy (by Thomas Gainsborough)
- Painting Description: A painting of a boy in a blue outfit.
- What To Look Out For: The boy’s head in the fake painting is covered by long bangs. Some of his forehead can be seen in the real painting.
The Hunters Snow (by Pieter Bruegel The Elder)
- Painting Description: A snowy landscape with two men and a whole bunch of dogs.
- What To Look Out For: The fake painting has removed some of the dogs from the left side of the two men.
The Milk Maid (by Johannes Vermeer)
- Painting Description: Depicts a servant woman pouring liquid from a pitcher.
- What To Look Out For: The pitcher is pouring way more liquid in the fake version. In the real version, it’s just a small trickle.
The Night Watch (by Rembrandt van Rijn)
- Painting Description: A large group of armed men walking outdoors.
- What To Look Out For: The large man above the leader is missing his top hat in the fake version.
Vitruvian Man (by Leonardo da Vinci)
- Painting Description: The famous diagram of the human figure.
- What To Look Out For: This one is easy! There’s a giant coffee stain in the top right corner.
Wind God and Thunder God (by Ogata Korin)
- Painting Description: A Japanese folding screen with the winter god (Fujin) and the thunder god (Raijin) depicted.
- What To Look Out For: The colors are swapped in the fake version! The god on the left
Like I said up top, if you’ve found a painting that isn’t on this list, it’s 100% authentic. Only these paintings have forgery variants!
