It might have seemed as though worlds were colliding for those reading a Boston Herald article about storied New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick that mentions his friendship with acclaimed painter Stephen Hannock ’74, but those familiar with Hannock’s art know his works are collected by heavy hitters the world over. The article highlights the debut of COUP Boston, a digital lifestyle magazine that scored a tour of the football great’s house, noting a landscape painting by Hannock, whose work hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bill Belichick (left) and Stephen Hannock '74

“I’m not a big art guy,” Belichick says in the article, which mentions that Hannock was the goalie for Bowdoin’s hockey team. “But I’m a big Steve Hannock guy. If he’s there, I’m going. We went and saw him at the Met, of course.”

“We grew up with each other,”  says Hannock, who recalls their days “having fun and getting into trouble” as teenagers on Nantucket. Hannock is preparing for an exhibition at New York’s Marlborough Gallery, which opens April 25 and runs through May. Read Bowdoin magazine’s profile of Hannock, “An Artist in Demand.”