Paris  - Despite the worst global economic crisis in more than 50 years, the three-day Paris auction of the art collection of the late fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent fetched 373.5 million euros (476 million dollars) by its Wednesday conclusion.

The total represents by far the world record for the sale of a private collection and well exceeded the estimates of 200 million to 300 million euros set by Christie's auction house, the main organizer of the sale.

In addition, world records were set at the sale for the works of 10 artists, including Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Marcel Duchamp, Constantin Brancusi and Giorgio de Chirico.

The collection was amassed by Saint Laurent, who died in June 2008 at age 71, and his longtime partner Pierre Berge over a period of 50 years.

The proceeds from the auction are to go to the foundation the two established and to enable Berge to establish a research centre to fight AIDS.

"Quality does not suffer from any crisis," the 78-year-old Berge told journalists after the final bid was made and accepted, for a mid-19th-century Sevres porcelain Chinese lunch reticule, which fetched 361,000 euros, including fees, more than five times the top estimate.

The auction lived up to its "sale of the century" billing by Christie's and art experts but was not without controversy.

Late Wednesday, two Chinese bronze heads that had been at the centre of an international legal tug-of-war were sold for 14 million euros each.

The Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe had gone to court to prevent Christie's from selling the two bronzes, which were allegedly looted from China by British and French troops 150 years ago.

China's Foreign Affairs Ministry had said that the bronze heads were "precious cultural treasures, which were looted by the joint Anglo-French forces" and that China had "incontrovertible ownership of those objects."

But a Paris judge ruled Monday that there were no grounds to withdraw the statues from the auction. (dpa)