➤ Animal Crossing: New Horizons, guide to works of art 🕹

Update 1.2.0 brought several new features to the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the most important of which is certainly the introduction of a new type of objects: works of art.
This further addition greatly amplifies the possibilities of discovery and, above all, profit that the player can exploit to his advantage. However, there are several dynamics to keep in mind, such as the possibility of being scammed.
Let's see in more detail everything that the new art market offers in this one Animal Crossing: New Horizons artwork guide.

How to find works of art

The works of art in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are not paintings or sculptures created specifically for the game, but real artistic masterpieces, attributed to more than renowned artists, including Da Vinci, Vermeer, Velázquez and a great variety of other "known traits" of the pictorial tradition and beyond.
Be careful though, because not everything is as it seems. In fact, there is the possibility of being deceived with real fakes, not donable and not even salable, as all those to whom you try to serve them will refuse to get hold of the non-authentic copy. Definitely an element that puts "a little extra spice" to this new addition.
But, you may be wondering, where can I find works of art?
After installing Update 1.2.0, you should have a chance to meet a new character on your island, Volpolo. He will try to sell you a work of art for a fairly large amount, but in the end he will only make you pay a few thousand stars.
By bringing the work to Blatero, it will inform you that it wants to open a new section of the museum dedicated to art. To complete the expansion process, the facility will be closed for a full day (the day after the donation).

After the renovation, you will have the opportunity to go and explore the new wing of the museum, although for the moment it will contain only one work of art. To increase the collection, you will have to wait for it to return to your Volpolo island. After talking to him again, he will tell you to join him on his boat, north of the island.
Once on the "not at all shady" bagnarola, you will have the opportunity to buy one of the four works for sale (more than one purchase per player is not allowed on the same day). Your purchase will be delivered to you the following day.

How to distinguish an original from a fake

Here it gets interesting. The crafty fox is not very reliable. In fact, he will often try to offer you fakes as authentic works.
Some days you may find all original works as in others you might only find fakes, or a little of one and a little of the other.
To understand if you are in front of reproductions, the smartest thing to do is to take an image of the work that interests you and compare it with the one for sale in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You can obviously search for it on the internet if you know the work in question (if you have an art history manual even better, it will make it more compelling), or, if you don't know it, you can use one of the various image recognition apps. , like Google Lens, with which you just need to frame the work to find the result in the blink of an eye.

The standard Animal Crossing view doesn't help much in finding the small differences between an original and a fake. Therefore, it is essential to get close.
To get a closer look at the painting or sculpture, select the item for sale and choose the dialogue option that allows you to see the work at close range. At this point, use the X and Y buttons to move the view closer and further away and the directional arrows to move the frame to your liking.

Now that you have more control of the scene, compare the images. The elements you will need to distinguish an authentic work from a fake vary from the most obvious to the slightest nuances (such as the slightly wider jet of milk in the replica of Vermeer's "Milkmaid").
Then, sharpen your eyes and find the differences. In this way, you can safely buy the works of art sold by Volpolo, without running into its shady pitfalls, useful only to steal a lot of stars.

This is what you need to know about it the artwork in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
If you've had any particular experience with that fox from Volpolo (pardon the pun) or if you have any questions, feel free to share them with us and other users in the comments.