import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import matplotlib.gridspec as gridspec def make_ticklabels_invisible(fig): for i, ax in enumerate(fig.axes): ax.text(0.5, 0.5, "ax%d" % (i+1), va="center", ha="center") for tl in ax.get_xticklabels() + ax.get_yticklabels(): tl.set_visible(False) f = plt.figure() gs = gridspec.GridSpec(2, 2, width_ratios=[1,2], height_ratios=[4,1] ) ax1 = plt.subplot(gs[0]) ax2 = plt.subplot(gs[1]) ax3 = plt.subplot(gs[2]) ax4 = plt.subplot(gs[3]) make_ticklabels_invisible(f) plt.show()