PARIS (AFP).- A decade-long row between the heirs of the sculptor Arman, whose works were once some of the most expensive in the world, has been resolved, lawyers said Monday.

The French-American artist, one of the founders of the "New Realism" movement alongside Yves Klein, left his work to a trust controlled by his second wife when he died in New York in 2005, aged 76.

But his children from his first marriage contested the will and set up their own foundation called A.R.M.A.N.

The new agreement will allow his American wife Corice and daughter Marion Moreau to sit together on a board that will catalogue and authenticate his works and "develop a museum" for them, the Paris-based law firm Cabinet Neuer said in a statement.

French-born Arman is best known for his spectacular public artworks such as "Long Term Parking" (1982), a 20-metre (65-foot) tower of 59 cars piled one on top of each other, which helped cement his reputation as an "archaeologist of contemporary society".

Another of his monumental sculptures, "Hope for Peace" -- made from 83 tanks and other military vehicles -- was commissioned to mark the end of civil war in Lebanon.

Born Arman Fernandez, he made his name in the 1960s with his "Poubelle" (Dustbin) installations comprised of rubbish strewn on the floor, and "Accumulations", arrangements of identical or almost identical objects.


© Agence France-Presse