Pitz pursued his artistic training at the Spring Garden Institute, in Philadelphia, and at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. Following World War I, during which he served in the Army Medical Corps, Pitz began working as a book and magazine illustrator. During the course of his career he illustrated over 160 books and frequently contributed illustrations to such periodicals as Harper's Monthly Magazine, and the Saturday Evening Post. From 1932 to 1960 Pitz served as the director of illustration and decoration at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art; from 1939 to 1946 he was an instructor in watercolor painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. During his long career Pitz produced numerous books on the art of illustration as well as monographs on Frederic Remington, 1972, and Howard Pyle, 1975. From 1942 he was an associate editor of American Artist magazine, contributing a lengthy series of articles on individual illustrators.
Elected to the Academy in the watercolorist classification, Pitz was a regular contributor to its exhibitions, and received a number of Academy awards: Obrig prizes in 1953, 1958, and 1965, and the National Academy of Design Medal in 1960, and Morse medals in 1964 and 1971.
