figure - Read For Learn

How do I tell Matplotlib to create a second (new) plot, then later plot on the old one?

If you find yourself doing things like this regularly it may be worth investigating the object-oriented interface to matplotlib. In your case: It is a little more verbose but it’s much clearer and easier to keep track of, especially with several figures each with multiple subplots.

In Matplotlib, what does the argument mean in fig.add_subplot(111)?

These are subplot grid parameters encoded as a single integer. For example, “111” means “1×1 grid, first subplot” and “234” means “2×3 grid, 4th subplot”. Alternative form for add_subplot(111) is add_subplot(1, 1, 1).