Paál had a bad time around 1875: he had everyday problems, he was worried because of his family which he had left in Transylvania, and he himself lived in great need. In order to escape from his own gloomy mood, he worked more intensively than ever before. The mystic atmosphere of woods always made Paál, like Munkácsy, a friend luckier than him, forget problems. He always had the feeling of the creator's presence in nature. Longing for light, he often painted light effects, changes of colours and values caused by the sunshine penetrating to depths of the forest.
The location of Morning in the Forest appears in two of his pictures and there is a charcoal-version of it, too. In the grey of the morning of the smaller picture, the green foliage where light can hardly enter is more homogeneous. The sun is shining warmer in the bigger version with light effects of some hours later. There is air between leaves painted in shades of green, soft blurred patches. Rich details and colours, still homogeneous in impression, produce a feeling of dynamism and fill the picture with life. Small figures appear as patches: they give the direction of colours.
The picture, a masterwork, comes from his best period when tragic feelings did not dominate his life.