“I don’t usually ask who did someone’s apartment,” says Donna Rosen, the art collector and philanthropist. “First of all, I can always tell—Mario Buatta, Billy Baldwin. But I think it’s gauche to ask.

When Greta Garbo lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 84, her last words were: “it’s been a wasted life, a wasted life, a wasted life.” It’s a statement that puzzles the modern reader.

Actress Greta Garbo wearing her “Cavalier” costume with wide brimmed hat from the 1933 film Queen Christina. When Greta Garbo lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 84, her last words were: ...