Approximately how many oil paintings did Van Gogh create during his lifetime? About 860 oil paintings.
That figure is an estimate within a much larger body of work. Van Gogh produced roughly 2,100 artworks during his active career, including paintings, drawings, watercolours, and sketches. Because catalogues and scholarship classify some works differently, totals can vary slightly, but “about 860 oil paintings” is the standard rounded answer.
Van Gogh did not begin painting seriously until his late twenties, and his artistic career lasted only about a decade, from around 1880 until his death in 1890. He worked especially intensely during his final two years, producing many of his best-known works in Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers-sur-Oise.
A common mix-up is confusing the oil-painting total with his total artistic output. The larger figure includes works on paper and other studies, while 860 refers specifically to oil paintings.