Colosseum Fine Arts’ next show will be one of big names, to be sure. For those who have paid attention to the art scene in San Diego and Southern California at any point in the last 20 years, the name Mario Simic should not be unfamiliar. And even for those who have never set foot inside an art museum or gallery, the name Renoir should mean something. Simic, ubiquitous artist and art dealer, will partner up with his longtime friend and fellow artist, Emmanuel Renoir, for a show at the gallery, located at 7946 Ivanhoe Ave., on April 28. Yugoslavian-born Simic, who has owned more than a dozen galleries in four different geographic areas, has been a force in the art world on the West Coast for several decades. Renoir, great-grandson of that Renoir, has a standing place in the art community as a descendent of art royalty. It is the art, however, not the names, that will drive this show. Simic and Renoir may bring in a few collectors based on their reputations, but there will be equal numbers of guests that wander in for the art. Simic’s seascapes and landscapes have a dreamlike quality that one can’t help but be attracted to, and Renoir’s etchings, as some of the simplest and most immaculate pieces in the gallery, immediately draw the eye to their elegant starkness. And being a big name in the art community, it turns out, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Renoir, whose younger brother Alexandre is also an artist, said his family has always received criticism based around the theory that they lack in talent what they make up for in family connections. “Of course the name helps,” Renoir said in an interview in the gallery as he and Simic set up their show. “It brings media attention, but sometimes it’s the wrong attention. There are critics, of course, that say we’ve only gotten as far as we have because of our name. But I’ve always said I could probably change my name and be more successful.” Renoir tends to believe in nurture over nature, anyway. His upbringing, he said, has more to do with his family’s tendency toward artistic ventures than anything genetic. “I believe it was probably more the environment than anything else,” he said. “We were born into an artistic family. There were always art supplies to play with as children. There was no escape.” Simic, meanwhile, may not have a famous family name to fall back on, but he has been creating his own empire ever since he came to America in 1970. Described by friends and colleagues as having “an endless amount of energy,” Simic opened his first gallery in Carmel as a way to get his work shown and to help out artists he met along the way. Since then, he has expanded and contracted, opening various galleries in various communities, including La Jolla, throughout the years. Now he has two galleries — one in Carmel and one in Scottsdale — that allow him to deal in the business side while getting back to his roots and creating his own art. It was painting the beautiful West Coast landscape, after all, that inspired his body of work in the first place — and his paintings are nothing if not beautiful. “I don’t paint only for myself,” Simic said. “I want the painting to be liked, too. I like aesthetics in art. I think it should be pretty.” When Simic and Renoir met in the late 1980s, they immediately became close friends. They started working together, doing shows and brokering art, mixing business and friendship. They are, as Simic said, “like brothers.” It helped that they both possess something rather rare — a head for both business and art. “Most artists only use one side of their brain — the artistic side,” Simic said. “Business people use the other side.” Renoir, who enjoys traveling around the world selling art as much as he does creating it, agreed. “Mario is very special, because he’s an artist but he can sell at the same time,” he said. It’s undoubtedly a valuable quality, especially in today’s economic environment. “It’s not easy to survive in art,” Simic said. “Especially with this economy, it’s hard. But I always say that to every problem, there’s a solution. I always look to the long term. I always knew I would do art as my career. I never considered anything else.” The Mario B. Simic and Emmanuel Renoir Two Man Show takes place on April 28 from 6 to 9 p.m. In addition to the artists’ work, the show will also coincide with the release of “Mario B. Simic: Poet of Land and Sea,” a retrospective book of Simic’s work and life over the last 45 years. For more information, call (619) 795-3704.