It looks like Apollo will have to play his lute somewhere else.
A lawsuit-swamped gallery on the Upper East Side was forced yesterday to postpone a huge exhibit after a partner pulled a trove of treasured paintings in the wake of the art house’s legal troubles.
London art dealer Clovis Whitfield, who was partnering with Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, yanked his paintings, including “Apollo the Lute Player,” a 17th century Italian masterpiece attributed to Caravaggio, after days of wrangling over a suit by one of 15 plaintiffs who claim the gallery does not pay back its investors by set deadlines.
“These have been the most dreadful four days of my life,” Whitfield said as his monumental collection was hauled from the walls of the palatial gallery.
“Over the course of the day, I’ve turned away about 20 to 25 people,” said security guard Brandon Jacobs. “I tell them it’s closed. They ask if it’s going to reopen. I say, ‘I don’t know.’ ”
The gallery’s owner, Lawrence Salander, 58, could not be reached for comment.
Stuart Slotnick, a lawyer who sought the restraining order, said there are too many unanswered questions to allow the gallery to conduct business as usual.
“He has claimants coming out of the woodwork,” Slotnick said. “Everyone needs to be heard.”
Plaintiffs include John McEnroe and hedge fund titan Roy Lennox, who is seeking to recover at least $4.6 million. leonardo.blair@nypost.com