Mrs. Sloane acquired her first oil painting in 1915 – a life-size portrait of her eldest son by American artist Douglas Volk (1856-1935). Although paintings were not her primary focus, her acquisitions in the 1920s and 1930s reflect her interest and patronage of significant artists of her time.

The Sloane Collection includes some of the finest pictures by contemporary artists Charles Hawthorne, Eugene Francis Savage, Abbott Graves, George Wharton Edwards, Nicolai Fechin, and Helen Turner. The Hermitage is the single largest holding of works by Helen Turner, including an important collection of her early sketches.