Mexican artist Diego Rivera's painting ‘Girl in Blue and White’ failed to find a buyer despite being the main attraction at a Latin American art auction in New York, organisers said.

The 1939 painting of 10-year-old Juanita Rosas had been expected to fetch between $4 million and $6 million, but "unfortunately, it was not sold," a spokeswoman for the Sotheby's auction house told AFP late Wednesday.

In contrast, Idol, by Cuba's Wilfredo Lam, sold for $4.56 million, well above its $2 million to $3 million estimate.

"Homage to Fontana," by Brazil's Sergio de Camargo, sold for $1.58 million after being estimated at $600 000 to $800 000.

And Yellow and White Vibration, by Venezuela's Jesus Rafael Soto, sold for $1 million, double its estimate.

The auction followed a similar sale at Christie's that brought in $27.73 million -- well above its expected $20 million yield - and set 33 individual records for artists from the region.

The big winner at that auction, which concluded Wednesday morning, was "The Revolt of the Opposites," by the late Chilean painter Roberto Matta, which sold for $5 million, double its expected value.

The abstract painting is of a surreal landscape, with yellow and black polygons, ocular circles and gray waves and eddies.

Earlier this month, the only privately owned version of Edvard Munch's The Scream – one of the most recognisable paintings in history – set a world record when it sold for $119.9 illion at Sotheby's.