Joan Charlat was born in New York City in 1943.^[1] She moved to Canada in 1959 to marry W. Ross Murray (1930–2020) and studied art history at the University of Toronto, receiving an Honours B.A. (1965). Murray completed an M.A. at Columbia University in 1966.^[1][2]

In 1969, the Art Gallery of Ontario promoted her to Research Curator, and then to Curator of Canadian Art (the first such Gallery appointment) (1970–1973). At the Gallery, she also served as the Acting Chief Curator (1972). From 1974 to 1999, Murray served as Director of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa where she organized over one hundred exhibitions and built a substantial collection,^[3] largely of Canadian art, as well as assisting with the creation of a new building by Arthur Erickson in 1987. In 1999 she retired from the RMG but remained as Director Emerita. Both the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery are considered to have benefitted from her pioneering work on Canadian art.^[4] From 2005–2006, Murray served as the Interim Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.

Murray was responsible for bringing the paintings of Tom Thomson to world attention through a series of exhibitions and books, including a biography.^[3] She has prepared a full-scale catalogue raisonné of his work, a project which took her over fifty years.^[5][6] She also has authored many books on the history of Canadian art,^[7] most notably Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century (1999),^[8] Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven (1994),^[9][10] McMichael Canadian Art Collection: One Hundred Masterworks (2006), and Laura Muntz Lyall: Impressions of Women and Childhood (2012). She has published over one hundred catalogues and two hundred articles on subjects ranging from folk art to contemporary artists.^[3] She is also a regular contributor to Wikipedia. Murray’s writing has been praised for its informative clarity and lack of art jargon.^[11]

Murray's collection of papers and over 600 interviews with artists can be found in Library and Archives Canada.^[12] Her interviews with war artists have been called critical.^[13]

Murray was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1992;^[14] and in 1993, was honoured with the Senior Award from the Association of Cultural Executives (A.C.E.) for her outstanding contribution and dedication to Canadian cultural life.^[15] She received the Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries in 2000.^[15] She received the Order of Ontario in 2003,^[3] and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.^[16] Murray was selected as University College, University of Toronto 2013 Alumni of Influence in 2013.^[17]

• Murray, Joan (1971). The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario.
• Bruce, William Blair; Murray, Joan (1982), Letters Home, 1859-1906: The Letters of William Blair Bruce, Penumbra Press, ISBN 978-0-92080-636-4
• Murray, Joan; Fulford, Robert (1983), The Beginnings of Vision: The Drawings of Lawren S. Harris, Univ of Washington Pr, ISBN 978-0-29596-050-0
• Kurelek, William; Murray, Joan (1983), Kurelek's Vision of Canada, Hurtig, ISBN 978-0-88830-254-0
• Murray, Joan (1984), The Last Buffalo: The Story of Frederick Arthur Verner, Painter of the Canadian West, Pagurian Press, ISBN 978-0-88932-130-4
• ——— (1984). The Best of the Group of Seven. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers. ISBN 978-0-77106-674-0.^[18]
• ——— (1986). The Best of Tom Thomson. Edmonton: Hurtig. ISBN 978-0-88830-299-1.
• ——— (1987), The Best Contemporary Canadian art, Hurtig, ISBN 978-0-88830-318-9
• ———; Harris, Lawren (1993), The Best of the Group of Seven (2nd ed.), McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 978-0-77106-674-0
• ——— (1994a). Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter. ISBN 978-0-88665-347-7.
• ——— (1994b). Tom Thomson: The Last Spring. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-55002-218-6.
• ——— (1996). Tom Thomson: A Sketchbook. Toronto: Golden Press.
• ——— (1997), Home Truths: A Celebration of Family Life by Canada's Best-Loved Painters, Key Porter Books, ISBN 978-1-55013-882-5
• ——— (1998). Tom Thomson: Design for A Canadian Hero. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-55002-315-2.
• ——— (1999). Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-55002-332-9.
• ——— (1999). Tom Thomson: Trees. Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 978-1-55278-092-3.
• ——— (2002a). "Tom Thomson's Letters". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 297–306. ISBN 978-1-55365-493-3.
• ——— (2002b). "Chronology". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 307–317. ISBN 978-1-55365-493-3.
• ——— (2002c). Flowers: J. E. H. MacDonald, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 978-1-55278-326-9.
• ——— (2003), Lawren Harris: An Introduction to His Life and Art, Firefly Books, ISBN 978-1-55297-764-4
• ——— (2004). Water: Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 978-1-55278-457-0.
• ——— (2006). Rocks: Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. pp. 92–7. ISBN 978-1-55278-616-1.
• ——— (2008), Michael Adamson: Open Country Paintings, vol. 1, Panda Group Canada, p. 205, ISBN 978-0-9811116-0-5
• ——— (2010), The Art of Florence Vale, Art Gallery of Peel, ISBN 978-0-98115-072-7
• ——— (2011). A Treasury of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 978-1-55365-886-3.
• ——— (2012). Laura Muntz Lyall: Impressions of Women and Childhood. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773540989.