The eight artists, ranging in age from 42 to 59, include a few from Sichuan, but the others come from all over China. They rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s by producing paintings, installations and multimedia pieces that were often radical. Some of the work was viewed by the Chinese government as distasteful or antiauthoritarian.

But in recent years Beijing has significantly loosened restrictions on what can be exhibited in China as the global art market has fed a boom in new studios, galleries, museums and art districts in many of its cities. Today only the most controversial works—those with explicit sexual images or harsh depictions of high-ranking Communist Party officials— are banned.

How the artists plan to operate their own museums remains unclear.

‘‘I was very happy when I heard that they were going to give me my own museum,’’ said Wu, 47, whose radical red character paintings and nude performance art are well known here and abroad. ‘‘Right now, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it. In the future all the artists will sit down and discuss how these museums will be operated.’’

If the artists choose to display their own works, the museums will have an enviable collection. Prices for art from many of them have skyrocketed on the auction market. Individual pieces by Zhang Xiaogang and Yue, for example, have sold for more than $2 million.