How To Get Paintings In Animal Crossing

Redd is a vendor introduced in Animal Crossing New Horizon's 1.2 update in April 2020, and visits your island to sell you works of art.

For fans of the series, Redd is a familiar face, and a somewhat infamous one. That's because - slight spoilers ahead - he's not to be entirely trusted, because his wares are often fake.

But as the main peddler of art, you have to work with him to open then fill out the Museum's art gallery.

Redd is also one of the rotating visitors who will visit your island.

This page explains how to get Redd, visit Redd's ship and open the art gallery.

On this page:

How to find Redd for the first time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
How to open the gallery in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
How to board Redd's ship in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
When often does Redd visit in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

How to find Redd for the first time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Redd will begin appearing on your island with the arrival of Animal Crossing New Horizon's 1.2 update, introduced in April 2020, which also adds Leif and the Nature Day event to the game.

As with the likes of Saharah and Label, Redd will appear on your island at random.

There are two ways to know he has appeared. One, Isabelle can announce his presence as part of the morning update as a "suspicious character", but Redd can also just appear without any kind of warning. In which case, check your map to see if his ship has appeared in the north shore of the island, as indicated by an icon.

Redd can also show up alongside other vendors. For us, he first appeared on the same day as Leif - so don't discount him if someone else is stationed outside Residential Services.

If you're struggling, some reports suggest you need to speak to Blathers once after the 1.2 update arrives, where his mention of art donations will see him arrive the next day. Though not confirmed for everyone, this is what happened to us. Either way, we recommend speaking to Blathers, then keeping an eye out each day when you play. He could take a while, but don't worry - Redd will show up eventually!

When Redd does appear, his ship will be parked on the 'secret' beach on the far north of the island, behind the cliffs. However, for this first visit, the ship will be inaccessible.

Instead, you need to track down Redd, who is roaming the island. Once you have, he will introduce himself, and sell you your first piece of art for 4980 Bells. Purchase it. Congratulations - you're now an art collector!

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How to open the gallery in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

With the arrival of Redd comes the ability to expand the Museum to accommodate an Art Gallery. If you speak to Blathers after the 1.2 update, he will mention the ability to collect works for art.

The only place to get art, and thus start expanding the Museum, is by meeting Redd.

Once you've met Redd for the first time and acquired your first work of art, donate it to the Museum. This works the same way it does with Fossils - it has to be analysed and then donated.

Following this first donation, the Museum will close for one day, so you'll need to hang onto any fossils or other donations until he reopens. Once it does, the Art Gallery wing of the Museum will be available.

You will find it at the upper floor of the museum, opposite of where you first enter through the front entrance.

As with other areas of the Museum, at first most of the wing will be empty, and requires you to generously donate further pieces to fill it out, from paintings to statues.

This requires more visits to Redd, so whenever he appears on your island, be sure to pay a visit and acquire a new item to give to Blathers.

How to board Redd's ship in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

After his first visit, Redd will continue to appear on the island on random days. Again, he will rotate in and out with other vendors, and checking your map to see whether his ship has docked on the northern shore will tell you he's in town if Isabelle doesn't.

Find Redd again and speak to him, where he will then invite you onto this ship to explore his full range of wares.

This ranges from rare furniture to further art pieces, though bear in mind you can only purchase one piece per day, so choose wisely.

To help you decide, you can inspect each work of art closely before you purchase it. This is important as Redd is known to sell forgeries.

Our decided page on fake vs real paintings and statues can help you avoid making any costly mistakes with your purchases. Don't get caught out!

The Animal Crossing 2.0 update and Happy Home Paradise is here! We can help you with the new additions - including where to find Brewster, Gyroids, new villagers, ordinances, new fences, storage shed, new hairstyles, Froggy Chair, group stretching and Kapp'n boat tours. Cooking is now unlockable, so you need to know how to make both flour and sugar, as well as how to grow carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Meanwhile, if you're new to Animal Crossing, our New Horizons tips can help with the basics. From the off, there's fish and bugs to catch, flowers and fruit to grow with. One long term goal is building your Happy Home Academy score. Finally, you need tools such as the new ladder and vaulting pole to fully explore.

How often does Redd visit in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Once Redd has made his initial visit, and you have visited his ship for the first time - which is usually within the next day or so after that - the wait for Redd's future visits can be surprisingly long.

Though visitors will rotate regularly, Redd is closer to the likes of CJ and Flick in he's one of the rarer arrivals to your island. What this means you might have to wait a week or two between Redd visits.

The following image by 8BitBish on reddit explains how visitors rotate. In short, if Redd doesn't visit during one week, they will more likely appear the following week.

animal_crossing_when_redd_comes_to_island — Image credit: 8BitBish on reddit

This is particularly frustrating since the gallery has many spaces to fill, and Redd is one of the few sources of art in the game.

There are, two things you can do each day if you're particularly keen for meet Redd:

Ensure you are checking the map for Redd's ship every day. With it being tucked away at the back of the island it's easy to miss, especially if Isabelle doesn't mention it in her morning briefing.
Talk to friends to hear if Redd has visited their island. As with any visitor, you can travel and make a purchase yourself - Redd's sales are restricted to one per person per day (across all islands), not one per island. So if Redd is on their island, but not yours, pay a visit!

Beyond that, another source of art in the game is the rare chance a Villager will mail you some - and the art you'll receive is based on their personality. Here's _Ninji on Twitter explaining how it works:

Today's weird #ACNH fact: You can randomly receive art pieces in the mail from villagers

Assuming that I've understood the system correctly:
- Jock and Lazy may send any piece, real or fake
- Smug will only send fake pieces
- Cranky will only send sculptures (real or fake)

— Ninji (en español) (@_Ninji) May 22, 2020

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This is difficult to rely on, of course. Ultimately, as with any other visitor, having Redd appear is a case of patience and luck. Keep playing and he will show eventually!