A £15m Van Gogh is left on the shelf at Sotheby's auction as art boom goes bust

Almost immediately a hush fell over the room at the auction house, and the packed crowd grew very still.

Unfortunately, they were not frozen in awe at the beauty of the masterpiece - but by their deep reluctance to buy it.

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No bid: Van Gogh's landscape of a wheat field, thought to be his last before he committed suicide, failed to sell in New York

The Vincent van Gogh landscape, Wheat Fields, was eventually withdrawn, in a result that sent shockwaves through the art world.

Dealers were concerned that the market might finally be turning after an unprecedented seven-year boom.

The auction in New York yesterday has, in some minds, confirmed those fears.

As well as the van Gogh, one Picasso painting failed to sell.

Another Picasso, and a Gauguin, went for well below their pre-sale estimates.

After the sale David Norman, Sotheby's chairman of Impressionist and modern art in New York, admitted the paintings may have been overvalued.

Experts fear that this is the fallout from the global credit crisis, triggered by the collapse of the American sub-prime mortgages market.

When van Gogh's 1890 landscape came up for sale, witnesses said not a hand went up.

There was a long lull before auctioneer Tobias Meyer coaxed out the first offer.

The sluggish bidding reached just £12million, well short of the £ 20million estimate, and it was withdrawn.

Sotheby's now owns the painting, because it had guaranteed the seller a minimum price, said to be around £15million.

With a total take of £135million for the evening, the Impressionist and modern art auction fell far short of even its low presale estimate of a total of £177million. Of the 76 lots on offer, 20 failed to find buyers.

Mr Norman tried to put a positive spin on events, saying: "I know the sale was really difficult, but I see it more as resistance to the aggressive estimates and not so much that the market has turned."

But Nanne Dekking, a specialist in Impressionist art, said the failure to sell the van Gogh "certainly said something about the market".